Line in the Sand
by TunelessLyric
Summary: A look at the love, life and lies of Project Freelancer from the eyes of snarky and down-to-earth OC Agent California, better known as Cali, and her AI Tau. Together, they and their friends find themselves in a crumbling web of untruths with no idea who to trust. Will the pair make it out alive or be swallowed by one man's memory? WashxOC. Swearing & violence.
1. Welcome to the Life

_All right. Just a heads up. This is my first RvB multi-chap. I'll be updating (hopefully) every Monday._

_Please understand that I only own Cali, Tau and any characters you come across in this fic unfamiliar to you. I based this off of season 10 Freelancer flashbacks and it follows the same base plotline. Obviously, I have taken creative license._

_Rooster Teeth and Halo's creators deserve all the credit._

* * *

**Welcome To the Life**

Cali feels as though she's been standing forever. Her hands are cold and sweaty against the glass as the doctors work over a prone figure. She draws comfort from the body standing beside her.

"How long?" she asks. Not because she actually wants to know, the fact terrifies her. She knows she'll have to go through the same thing herself very soon. She just wants him to think about something other than his old friend's skull being cracked open for the implantation.

"Two hours," he hisses through his teeth. Then he leans his forehead on the window with a long groan.

She looks at him carefully. She sees the frustration in the way he holds his shoulders tight and in the lines etched around his deep green eyes. The Freelancer's jaw is clenched in worry. She puts a gloved hand up on his silver shoulder guard. "Hey, they're almost finished. Maine'll be up and about by tomorrow morning."

He pushes a hand through his spiky blond hair. "And what if he isn't?" he demands, slamming his hand against the Flexi-glas.

She idly thanks the reinforced panel for its strength and bites her tongue. He isn't done with his outburst yet.

"What the fuck am I supposed to do without him? We've been a team since day one. They can't just put me out there alone; I'd have the shit kicked out of me as soon as I hit the ground without Maine!" He breathes in through his nose sharply. She can see the angry words lined up next on his tongue. For some reason though, he bites them back. "I'm sorry, I-I'm just so worried and – "

"Stop it," she interrupts firmly. "Don't apologize Wash. You can't just shoulder the burden. You know I'm here for you."

Agent Washington peels his face from the window and catches her eye. "Thanks," he sighs.

She gives a shrug, gold pauldron bobbing in and out of her view. "Don't –"

"I mean it," Wash cuts her off. "Thank you Cali. I know I'm being an ass. It means a lot to me that you're here."

"You aren't being an ass Wash. You're worried. There's a difference." Cali winces at the use of her nickname. Sure, it's all she's gone by as long as she can remember but it isn't what he _has_ called her before.

"How soon is your implantation?" he asks, changing the subject awkwardly.

"Day after tomorrow," she agonizes. She sighs and squeezes his shoulder tightly under the exoskeleton. "I'm going to see who's on the training floor. I might stay and watch."

He just nods and returns to watching the doctors. She doesn't want to leave him alone but, right now, it's what he needs.

Agent California follows the familiar windowless hallways of the _Mother of Invention_ to the training area. She spots a few armoured figures loitering about in the observation balcony – Snipe Central they call it on account of any spectators' tendency to slam decisions made by practicing Freelancers. Carolina is standing with her weight on one foot, the other out to the side and arms loosely crossed, bored as always. Next to her is York who is watching the match below with interest. The blue-green-seafoam – whatever colour she is – Freelancer has her helmet on the floor by her boots and her bright red hair is in its usual low ponytail. York has his own helmet on.

"Who's down there?" Cali snaps up their attention from the match.

"North and South are having their asses handed to them by Wyoming," replies York without turning. No surprise that the Dakota twins are practicing together.

Cali steps up to the window without a thought. When York flinches she curses her carelessness. "Sorry, I'm so stupid York, I – "

The tan figure slowly drains the tension from his body. "I'll be fine," he cuts off her hurried apologies without his normal spark. "I should get used to people coming up my blind side."

"How long are the twins gonna take this? It's been three rounds already," complains Carolina. "Just quit arsing around and shoot him already."

Cali ignores the team leader. "God, York I-I'm sorry."

He chuckles. Cali can hear the false ring to it. "Where's Wash?"

Cali bites her lip again. "Watching Maine."

York turns to her quickly. "Oh shit, I forgot! How is he?"

"Maine's stable. Wash is practically tearing his hair out. I just spent an hour with him," she reports to their mutual friend.

"Yeah? Tell you what, you keep Carolina from joining the bout, I'll keep Wash's hair on," suggests York, quietly enough Number Two won't hear him.

"As soon as they're done I'll meet you," replies Cali. She takes York's spot on the railing next to the double paned glass. She looks through her gold and forest green reflection to the action.

Below, the first round of lockdown paint is nearly over. South took a dozen hits to the chest and arms. Her magenta and green form is in a tangled heap in the centre of the floor. North ducks behind a tall, rectangular pillar and reloads his paint pistol. On the other side of the arena, Wyoming tries to hack a thick glob of purply pink paint from his right leg with the butt of his own gun.

Cali knows if she was in North's position, she would have moved forward by now. But North's fighting is nothing like hers. Instead, he'll let the white sniper make the first move, then pick him off. And that is exactly what happens. As Wyoming goes down with a thick wad of paint smeared across his visor, FILSS awards the twins a point.

"About time," growls Carolina.

Cali just blocks the other woman out. She watches as the paint turns liquid again and runs off the Freelancers' armour. The Dakotas reload under the observation deck as Wyoming wobbles over to the far wall.

After the fourth round of lockdown paint the twins lead 4-2. Wyoming's counter attacks have dissolved to him sloppily attempting to dispatch one sibling while the other shoots him from the exposed flank. It is a manoeuvre that they have employed often against Cali and larger teams to great effect.

As he picks himself off the ground yet again, Wyoming throws down his pistol in frustration. His heavily British accented voice is heard for the first time in the session. "I've had it! You win this time Dakotas." Then he storms off to the armoury to turn in his pistol.

"Looks like he's going to be pissed when he checks the Board." Carolina doesn't sound too bothered by that fact.

Cali can't help but disagree. Maybe the news of the training session will distract Wash for half a minute, though. It's been a long time since Wyoming lost to anyone other than Carolina, Tex or York. She passes Carolina subconsciously so she isn't forced to chat in the corridor with the higher-ranked Freelancer. Cali heads back the way she came.

Washington is still leaning on the pane separating him from his friend. York is holding up the wall behind the silver and yellow Freelancer, watching him carefully. His helmet is mag-clamped to his side.

"You guys didn't miss much," says Cali. "After you left York, the twins got their act together and creamed Wyoming. Carolina has predicted a change in the standings tonight."

Wash shoots her a look over his shoulder briefly before returning his attention to the medical proceedings. York claps Cali on the back.

"He even threw a fit," she adds.

"How badly did they beat him?" York asks with a grin.

"Three points in seven rounds. Mostly scored by South since her brother and Theta insisted in playing Target."

"They won't change the Leader Board from that," Wash says unexpectedly. "There isn't enough to go on."

"Yeah, well, we all know Carolina. She's been obsessed with the Board ever since Tex knocked her off top spot," York puts in bitterly.

Cali joins Wash at the window again. On the other side, the doctors seem to be finishing up. She watches in silence as the white-robed people go about their work. She tenses when a weight settles on her shoulder. She is about to lash out when she realizes it is only Wash's arm pulling her close. Cali leans into his chest, still a little uncomfortable anyone can see the affectionate gesture. She and Wash haven't been officially a couple for long and, even though the Director and Counselor haven't forbidden relations between Freelancers, it wasn't something that the Marine Corps would have allowed and Cali's old habits have never gone away.

York barks out a laugh that hurriedly morphs into a cough or three. He makes an excuse and leaves a short while after. Once he's gone, Wash puts his face in Cali's dark red hair. She hears him take a deep breath in and blow it out noisily. She, being as close as they are, can almost taste the stress coming off him in waves.

Then the head medic gives a thumbs up to his audience. Maine is wheeled into the adjoining room. He will be under close observation until regaining consciousness.

"Let's see what they say," Cali suggests.

Wash doesn't object. They walk shoulder to shoulder down the hallway until their path crosses that of the medic's.

"I'm happy to inform you that Agent Maine will be up and showing his AI about by tomorrow morning," begins the man. "When Maine momentarily woke, he knew where he was and what was going on around him."

Cali thanks him for his time. He bobs his head and sweeps off for a nap. She checks Wash. He is the most at ease she has seen him all day. "You want to drop by before turning in for the night?"

When he nods, they tag onto a group of medics going in that same direction. They are allowed five minutes with the sleeping Freelancer. Wash stands at the foot of the bed and watches Maine's huge chest rise and fall. Cali stands back a bit from the men. When the doctor sticks her head in to announce they need to leave, Wash looks very tired but relieved.

"I'll visit before they take you, all right?" says Wash.

"That would be nice," replies Cali. "I'm looking forward to seeing you one more time before my whole life changes."

They reach Cali's room. "Night Wash."

"See you Cali." He looks away. "Thanks again for waiting with me."

She grins. "I was happy to help." Then she ducks into her room.

* * *

_For any of you scratching your heads, the Dakotas beat Wyoming 5-2. See y'all next Monday!_


	2. Endure

_Hey, so it's Monday once again. Here to lift you up from your beginning of the week blahs is another chapter!_

_I would like to start off by thanking all of you for checking out the first chapter, for coming back to read this chapter and my two awesome reviews. I was amazed to see the sheer number of people who read and kept on trickling in all week. Thanks to NicKenny for picking this up and dropping it in his community. Finally, shout-out to AgentDC and Lili-Hunter, you guys made me think a lot with your kind words._

_All right, I'm done. Here we go..._

* * *

**Endure**

_Gonna swallow my pride and risk it all/ And I won't look back! – Comeback ~ Redlight King_

She wakes to someone shaking her shoulder. As she sits up, she rubs her eyes. A tall figure is standing next to her bed. She shakes away the wispy tendrils of her dream.

"I am sorry to wake you," says a flat voice, "But we have moved ahead with your implantation date Agent California."

"But I'm not until tomorrow. Wash – " she protests. No way is she ready. Not now.

"Agent Washington is under too much stress to watch you go through implantation at this time," the voice interrupts.

Cali's vision clears and the voice attaches itself to a familiar face. The Counselor is in her room. "Wait, so you think by making him wait another day to see me is going to make him calm down? But I'm going now?"

"No, I do not. That is why the Agent is under sedation as we speak. He will not wake up until it is time to prepare him emotionally for the next stage of the Project." The Counselor holds out a hand. "Come, time is against us."

Cali takes his hand reluctantly. None of this is making any sense. "Take me to see him first. Then you can stick an AI in my head."

"Agent California, we do not have the time for – "

"If we don't see him first, I'm staying in bed," objects Cali. She knows full well it will take three other Freelancers to drag her out of bed and down the halls. She also knows only two would accept the challenge. She shoves the memory away.

A pained look darkens the Counselor's gaze as he realizes the same thing. "Come, we are taking too much time we can ill-afford to squander."

Cali gets out of bed. She pushes past the Counselor roughly and steps into the hall. "His quarters or the Infirmary?" she asks.

"This way." He sets off in the opposite direction as Cali.

She huffs angrily and stomps after the infuriating man. He leads her down hallway after hallway. They go to a part of the _Mother of Invention_ Cali has never seen before. The Counselor swipes his hand over a pad and a section of wall folds away. Inside, Wash is in a bed. He has about six wires attached to his arms. Cali never expected this and it is a shock. She stalks over to his side without a thought and crouches next to his head.

"Wash, I'm going for implantation right now. When you wake up, I'll be in Recovery. I'll be there when they take you out. I'll be waiting for you. Good luck, man. See you on the other end," she whispers into his ear. Maybe he hears, maybe he doesn't. He doesn't give the smallest hint he has. Cali gently strokes his hair once. Then, acting on impulse, kisses his forehead.

The Counselor clears his throat loudly.

Cali stands. "Good luck, David," she adds even quieter than before. She joins the Counselor at the door. "What are we waiting for?"

Again, he ignores Cali's gruffness. They move silently back through the large ship. He lets them into a small cubicle of a room. In it is a gurney. She sits heavily on it.

"How are you feeling Agent California?" asks the Counselor. He pulls a datapad from his jacket and clicks a lightpen.

Cali folds her hands and squeezes them together painfully hard. "Honestly, I'm worried. I don't know what to expect and I'm tired of being torn out of bed for this shit."

"I'm sorry you feel that way." He makes note of that on his papers. "Feel assured that this is the last time we will be seeing each other for one week."

"Yeah, colour me assured."

"Would you say you are using sarcasm to deflect my attention from your stress level?"

"What gave it away?" she demands. Her knuckles are white. "Can we just get through this and move on to the part where a program is put into my mind?"

"Yes, my examination is complete. Lie down and please make yourself comfortable." The Counselor stands and presses a button in the wall. A buzzer sounds faintly.

Three doctors file into the room. They plug her into an array of machines they wheel in after them. She grimaces as IV lines puncture her skin. She wonders if this is what Wash last saw or if they got him before he woke up.

She sees his face swimming before her eyes. She can feel her blood thickening as sedative drips into her arm. Her eyelids drop and she feels just too tired to force them back open.

XOX

"Hello?"

Cali frowns. Where is that strange voice coming from? She turns around. At the edge of her vision is a blurred black and white shape. "Yes?" she responds. "Where are you?"

"Here."

The smudge slides into the front of her sightline. It resolves into a humanoid figure. It is an armoured form. It lacks a helmet, instead Cali sees a masculine face. It has hard and dark eyes, a strong nose and jaw and black hair. The armour is patched both white and black. This is her AI.

"Nice to finally meet you, Tau," she says kindly. She reaches out a hand to touch him.

"Likewise," he says. He does not stretch to touch her. A wariness creeps into those dark eyes. "Do you know what my attribute is?"

"No, I don't. Will you tell me?" she asks. She is stung by his reluctance to take her hand.

"Endurance." He looks her up and down. "Are you ready to work with me, Agent California?"

She nods once. "I am. Call me Cali."

"Very well. It is a pleasure to meet you… Cali," Tau says warmly. His eyes soften with some strong emotion. He takes her hand. "I look forward to spending a lot of time together."

Cali feels a strong urge to take the glowing form into her arms. To protect him even at the cost of her own life. "Likewise."

"You need to wake now. It is time to begin our formal training together. We cannot afford to be late," Tau mimics the Counselor's tone in a grating falsetto voice.

Cali laughs. "I think we will make a perfect team Tau. See you in a bit." As Cali's hold on the dream fades, she wonders how Wash is feeling.

XOX

She blinks awake to blindingly white light shining into her eyes. Behind the light is an arm. Attached to the arm is a body. On top of the body is a helmet. Behind the helmet is a face. The face is hidden from them.

Them?

"Easy, California. Take it one thing at a time," the helmet says. "Don't hyperextend your AI. He's had a rough trip and is getting tired."

"I'm not tired," snaps that voice indignantly.

She frowns. What was that? Who spoke? Tau did.

"Yes you are." She closes her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. It's too much. Everything is too bright and too loud and too rough. "I need to…"

Before she can finish that thought, she is falling asleep again. As the darkness swamps her again, she is aware of needing to stay awake. She needs to see somebody before… before what? She is just so tired now. Cali gives in and falls under the darkness.

XOX

With a groan, Cali cracks open an eye. The readout on the wall says a eight days have gone by. She has not been out of bed in eight days. She needs to get out of bed. She will scream or go crazy or… something.

"Yes, we need to move. I'm happy to see you're well," Tau chirps.

Cali feels a pressure behind her eyes. It feels like someone is squeezing her head too tightly. Then, right when she thinks her eyes are going to pop out, a black and white armoured form is standing on her lap. Tau is only about a foot tall at the most. He swivels about, trying to take the entire room in at once. Cali frowns, she knows that the AI is standing on her legs, but there is no sensation of him resting there.

"You just… left my head?" she asks in wonderment.

"Oh, no. Hardly. I'm still rooted in your mind, I just… how can I put this? I just wandered out for a quick peek," he explains. "There was some person you wanted me to meet before?"

With a jolt, she remembers Washington. She needs to get out of bed and check on him. Then a realization dawns on her. She's been out for over a week. Why was it so long? All the others were back on their feet the next day. Wash has to be out there waiting for her. "I – why was I asleep for so long?"

The door opens and three figures hurry into the small room. One is the Counselor, another is a doctor. The last is Wash. Tau's head swings around and he narrows his gaze at them.

"Shut down for a moment. Or get back in my head or something," hisses Cali. Immediately, she sees him fade. She feels him looking through her eyes, listening through her ears and analyzing with their shared mind.

Wash is back in his armour. He crouches down at her side. She tries to catch his eye but he avoids her gaze. The doctor marches to Cali's feet. The Counselor just stands at a distance, ready to spout techno-babble at the drop of a hat.

"What happened?" Cali demands. "Is something wrong with us?" She doesn't hesitate to use the plural. For that is what they are now. One mind, but two very different entities in it.

"There were… complications," the doctor begins. He hesitates over every syllable.

Cali leans forward. She is aware that in some far corner of their mind, Tau is running about a dozen calculations. She doesn't even want to know how or why.

"What kind of… complications?" Her voice is tight with aprehension.

Wash takes her hand. It looks strangely small in his gauntlet. She puts her other hand on his elbow. Every second that passes chafes. There is something very wrong.

"There was no problems in implanting the AI. It was very cooperative and we thought… we thought there would be no rejection issues or side effects," he explains. She can still sense the worry in his voice. Or maybe Tau can and he is feeding that information to her. "When you woke up after, we were certain the operation was a success. But then you slipped into a coma."

"You mean, the two of us… were a vegetable for a week?" Cali has a feeling it is about to get worse. Wash squeezes her hand and she _knows_ it is going to be worse.

"Um, you could put it into those terms, yes." The doctor shifts his feet awkwardly. "Because of that, we were worried there might be some brain damage. If there is, you will be unfit for duty Agent California. If there isn't, I'm afraid we'll have to remove the AI. It could cause a relapse, which would very much endanger your life."

So that was it then. Either she falls into another coma and they pull the plug on them or she makes one false move and Tau is destroyed.

"Show them. Prove that we're all right," Tau whispers in her head. "We will endure."

Cali swings her legs out from under the thin Infirmary sheets. She shakes off Wash's protests and stands, albeit weakly. "And if we can prove we'll be okay? We get to stay together."

The Counselor scribbles down a note. The first hint that he has been following the proceedings carefully.

"While your enthusiasm is promising, you are suggesting that you endanger your life for the existence of a construct. This is highly irregular," the doctor remarks.

"Do you know what Tau stands for?" Cali demands. She understands now what the AI was figuring out.

"I do," the Counselor steps in. "And I take it that you do as well"

Washington looks at her in askance. He clearly does not.

"Endurance. They wanted to see if we had bonded. If they threatened me with death, would we continue on our path or would we give in?"

"Consider your first test a pass, Agent California," says the Counselor. "Please correct the readout for this room."

On the wall, the clock blinks to the right date. She has only been out for six hours. Cali sighs with a relief Tau echoes. "I thought you were keeping Wash sedated."

"We wanted to see how long you would take to remember such facts. It is a simple cognitive ability examination. The Washington you saw was a flash clone. The real Agent was only too happy to engage in our testing. You see, he was rather worried for your safety. I am sorry if you feel any betrayal on his part," the Counselor answers.

"So… why did they reschedule my implantation?" she asks the other Freelancer.

"The Director was curious. He wanted to see how the implantation would go if you weren't prepared," he replies with a shrug.

"And you're okay with this?" she asks.

"Why wouldn't I be? You're all right and Maine has recovered. I'm good and ready to see you and your new friend in action."

Tau slides out from behind Cali's eyes again. "I'm sorry, I didn't understand that. Could you elaborate?"

Cali barks out a breathy laugh. It seems that her new friend is even more excited than her at the prospect of venturing out into the world. "Guys, this is Tau. He's pretty brave and excitable."

"Very different from Theta," Wash comments, "and Delta and Sigma."

"Yes, well. I didn't want an AI that cowered behind a big, scary Freelancer. Tau is great," Cali retorts. She grins to take the sting out of her words. "So what are we waiting for? Let's get out there!"

The doctor steps aside. Wash leads Cali out of the small room and Tau sits on her shoulder. The sensation is strange, she knows some weight should accompany his presence, but there is none. They traverse many hallways before returning to familiar parts of the ship.

"I want my armour back," Cali says as they near the locker room.

"You think you're up to all that?" the doctor asks.

"We'll have to be," she replies. "We have to get back into the swing of things."


	3. Some Getting Used To

_And we're back!_

_Thanks for reading, favouriting, following, all that jazz. Means more than I can say or that you really care to hear._

_I just need to say, I have permission from AgentDC to use his OC, Agent DC seen here. If you want more of DC's story, check out _Red vs Blue Revenge Trilogy: 1 Rebuilding_. You can find the link under my favourites if you're anything like me. _

_Yes, I said I was lazy. Anyways. Feedback is good. I'm always well-fed when I'm on, so I promise I won't bite!_

* * *

**Some Getting Used To**

_Tell me you can hear what I'm saying_

_I'm a far cry from the old me - Beast in Air, Beast in Water ~ Snowmine_

Cali feels Tau's excitement. It sets her blood on fire and gives her the strength to strap on her armour. It takes longer than usual thanks to her being asked a question about each individual piece. Finally, she stands before her empty locker. She grimaces at how tired she looks and pulls on her gold and dark green helmet.

Wash went ahead to the dining hall. He said he didn't want to disturb the pair. So she chats with Tau about the others. They experiment with using memories and feelings to describe them rather than words and thoughts. It is something that, despite it being so foreign, they like.

Cali hesitates at the entrance to the mess hall. Inside, they can hear the others talking over their meal. It sounds like Tex beat Carolina once again in a training exercise. Tau picks up on her feelings. He washes away the lingering nerves with a flash of Theta and Delta. He wants to meet them. Cali grins at his inquisitiveness and steps through the door.

At the middle table, Cali sees Carolina glaring at Tex across their trays of food. The black armoured Freelancer is ignoring everyone else like their idiocy is contagious. CT sits at the far end alone, she must be in a particularly bad mood. Cali longs to sit with her friend and roommate from the beginning of the program, before every Freelancer was given their own quarters. She knows that if she did, Connie would only move away.

Wyoming and North have their heads bent close together and Theta absently taps a foot on his skateboard. Clearly the white Lancer has gotten over his defeat yesterday. South watches her brother closely, her face impassive. Across from them sits Maine, York and Wash. The massive Freelancer growls and jerks his chin at Cali. Speak he may not, but communication is still very much open.

Delta is the first to decipher Maine's message and he and York turn to Cali. Wash takes the hint and also looks over. One by one, the others swivel in their seats to welcome Cali back. She grins and takes her usual spot on York's good side and next to Wash. She pops her helmet.

"Look at you, all suited up and ready to go," says York. He carefully taps Tau's unit on the base of Cali's skull with a finger.

"What York means is that it is good to see you feeling well, Agent California," Delta explains. He glances to York and Cali recognizes the exchange between them.

Theta rolls over and gazes up at Cali. He doesn't have to be her AI for her to read the longing expression in him. She urges Tau to show himself. The feeling is now familiar and less discomfort accompanies him taking visible form. "Everyone, meet Tau," she says.

Delta's green aura melts into Tau's and the logical AI silently communicates against protocol. Theta joins in. Cali gains flashes of both other Freelancers' voices. They clamour for information. All others at the table are entirely washed away in the influx. North inquires to Theta about Tau, Delta reports to York on the state of both AI and Freelancer. Then York's voice drowns the others out. Cali frowns, realizing no words actually order the two others back. Rather, an overwhelming crush of emotions she recognizes as her own and Tau's are shoving back North and Theta. Delta retreats respectfully and agrees with York.

Then they are gone.

"Whoa," Cali says aloud. She massages her temples. None of the AI have moved. Only now, Delta's green glow only touches himself and York. Theta inspects a wheel of his board, purple and blue cloud no longer in contact with Tau.

"What is it?" asks Wash. His face is furrowed in confusion.

"Delta, Theta and North got a bit excited," explains York. "Cali and Tau may be little troopers but a full-on assault was too much."

"Full-on – but she just sat down?" South frowns around with an expression to rival Wash's.

"Thoughts are estimated to travel above a thousand miles per hour," says North. "Our exchange may have lasted only two seconds, but Theta and I probably know Tau better than anyone since York and Delta wasted time forcing us out."

"Thanks for that," Cali says around her fingers. "Can we try again?"

York laughs. Then a glance from Delta silences him. "What did you say Tau's attribute was?"

Cali shakes her head. "I didn't."

Tau asks her permission to contact Delta. She gives it. This time, they are ready for all of the impressions. Curiosity laps over her. She allows Tau to do the talking, so to speak. She freezes when he tells Delta a second word. Then they break off again.

York touches her hand. She ignores him for a moment, turning instead to her AI. "You didn't say you were strength too," she accuses hotly.

Delta looks at her. "Don't," York warns his program.

Tau shifts his feet. "One must be strong to endure."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cali isn't angry. She is wounded that this tiny aspect bonded to her wasn't forthcoming. At the same time, she feels his independence and stubbornness to be true to her own.

"I didn't inform you because you are strong enough not to require bolstering from me. We wouldn't be defined any more or less if we weren't both embodying that characteristic."

"Oh." Cali feels stupid for a heartbeat. Tau drains it away immediately.

She stands to grab something to eat. As she walks away from the table, Wash knocks her hand against her side with his own. She feels bad for him. They have always been close and now all of a sudden, Cali doesn't spare him a second glance.

Cali stands up at the line for food. Suddenly she is pulled out of her thoughts by a familiar voice. She turns to see a thick mop of light brown hair and blue eyes.

"DC, I didn't even see you there," she scolds with a laugh.

He shrugs his white and crimson shoulders easily. "I figured that out, thanks. How's the AI?"

Cali smiles. "Tau?"

He flickers into view between them. "It's nice to meet you, Agent DC."

DC bobs his head and motions Cali to move up. "Nice to catch up. I'm hungry."

She shakes her head and gets some food. Cali pushes out of the line with her tray.

As she weaves back through tables Tau asks about Sigma. Cali responds in confusion as she balances her tray and squeezes between chair backs. "Maybe Maine and him were busy?" she suggests.

Tau agrees it is plausible. Cali's thoughts return to Wash. She sits beside York and him again and catches the silver and yellow Freelancer's eye. Cali mouths an apology before starting into her meal.

The conversation level all around climbs to an oppressive din. Cali can hear it all; chair legs screaming against the metal floor, utensils clattering together, dishes hitting tables and noisy chatter combine. The confusing cacophony slams on the back of her skull, threatening to crack it open. A splitting headache snakes its spidery fingers into her forehead. Pulses of pain contort the lighting, though low, to a harsh glare. Cali's right elbow finds the table, her fingers rub her eyes slowly.

"What's wrong, Cali?" Wash asks, concern colouring his voice.

"Headache," North answers for her.

"I wasn't asking _you_."

Cali nods in response. She knows Wash has turned to her after the mock swipe. "It's too loud in here," she adds.

"It isn't just that," North says, "it's a side effect of the implantation. You can process so much more much faster now."

"They'll go away soon," assures York.

Cali drops her hand, about to ask Maine if he still gets them. The big Freelancer has a hand the size of a baseball glove over his eyes, blocking out the garish lights as well.

"You too?" Wash also checks the white and brown Lancer.

Maine hisses in quiet annoyance. Sigma appears, his flaming aura nearly touching Maine. "Agent Maine is also suffering from a headache. It seems as though it will be some time before we are returned to maximum efficiency."

"You don't say," York replies, sarcasm soaking through his words.

"I do understand sarcasm, Agent York," clucks Sigma. There is an undercurrent of annoyance and something darker in the AI's voice. "I don't think it was necessary."

"Hey, Sig, sorry. I just already got what you were dishin' out." York sounds less sorry than he could be.

Any reply from Sigma is run over by a derisive snort from South. She rolls her eyes at her brother's best friends. "You guys are just pathetic. A headache? Please."

"South," warns North.

"No, let her say her thing," Cali objects. The pain has passed. Tau wants to see where this goes.

South momentarily looks stunned. Then her eyes narrow as the surrounding Freelancers, sensing the tension, twist to observe. She knows she has an audience and it has never been in her nature to back down.

North sighs and shakes his head. "Play nicely."

"You think we're pathetic? This should be good." Cali lets her temper bubble over.

"All you do is whine about how much the headaches hurt. You lie in bed for a day and get special treatment," the magenta Freelancer shouts. "The Director doesn't even _look_ at me! I spend _my_ time training and doing missions and _still_ don't even get a second glance. You aren't even _on _the Leader Board!"

If Cali is honest, the outburst is disappointing. "That's it? You're jealous because being partnered with North and being on Carolina's team may get your ranked eighth but not an AI?" South flinches back and Cali knows she hit a nerve. "Well _boo hoo_. Come back when you've _earned_ your place. Cry about it when you get to ninth position without a smart brother or even a _team_. You don't hear me complaining, do you?"

South hangs her head for a moment. Cali wonders if she went too far. Tex looks over.

"You know what, bitch?" South says quietly. "Keep your _fucking_ mouth shut. You have _no_ idea what my life is like. So don't pretend you do." She stands abruptly and kicks her chair over viciously. Without a backward glance, South stomps out of the mess hall.

North sinks down in his chair, avoiding all of the curious gazes directed at him from all over the room.

"I'm sorry, North," apologizes Cali immediately. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Neither should she," he mutters, pale blue eyes full of disappointment in his sibling. "I-I probably should go and – "

"Let her have a minute," York interrupts. "She won't thank you for rubbing it in."

XOX

"Hey! Cali, wait a sec!"

She is wandering the labyrinth of halls in the ship alone after the meal. Cali looks back to see a brown and grey Freelancer jogging to catch up to her. It pulls off its helmet to reveal the face of Connie, her first close friend after joining the program.

"Hi, what's up?" Cali asks.

"Can we talk for a minute?" Connecticut asks as she pulls to a stop before Cali.

Cali nods. She leads her friend into the nearest room. It is the class the Director commonly uses to teach his Freelancers when nothing more pressing needs his attention. Right now, only one set of lights illuminate the room. All the desk screens are on standby and the main screen is blank.

"First off, South had that coming to her," Connie says. "I just wish it had been me to say it." She stands against the lectern at the front of the room.

Cali shifts uncomfortably. "I wish I hadn't embarrassed North like that."

Connie waves the comment away dismissively. "My point is, she only got where she is on her teammates' shoulders. South should learn what a full day's work is."

"This can't be what you chased me down to tell me," Cali presses gently.

Connie quickly crosses the room and shuts the door. "No. It isn't. I wanted to ask you something." She strides closer. "Which side are you on?"

Cali frowns. "What?" She hopes this isn't going where she suspects it is.

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me and Wash the other day. I know you were in the locker room, too."

Tau silently asks what happened.

Cali remembers hiding in her locker that day. Cali had just returned from a failed assignment. Wash had attempted to console her but Connie only brushed him off. She then asked him to choose his side. Connie wanted to know if Wash was going to choose the Director and the Project or her.

"I don't get it," says Cali, "you just come up to me and demand to know something without even giving me the details. Why do I even have to pick a side?"

"Cali, the Director's done something awful. The AI – " Connie breaks off with a pointed glare up at a small camera on the wall. "I can't say it. But he can't be trusted to do the right thing anymore, California."

Cali begins to reply but Connie holds up a hand. "Why do you think he has the Board anyway?"

Tau draws her eyes to the small Leader Board on the wall next to them. Connie nods as she watches.

"Why does he want us to fight each other to be the best? Why does he let us tear each other apart? He's using us!"

"Connie, the Director is helping us. The Board? It's incentive – "

"Cali, you're my friend. I'm asking you, _begging _you, to listen to me," Connie cuts across her. "You're barely in the top ten. What happens if he decides that isn't good enough?"

"And what about you?" retorts Cali. "I'm higher ranked than you."

"What happens to me doesn't matter anymore," Connie says, barely above a whisper. "I don't – please listen to me. He only wants to see how far you'll go – what lengths – to be first. The AI? They're only a small part of it. If you knew what I knew, you'd see! We aren't even the good guys, Cali. The police _shot_ at us! We _stole_ from the good people."

Cali backs away. She doesn't know the woman before her. This woman – her eyes wild, sneer twisting her face – this isn't her friend.

"Please Connie, let me help you. I don't know what this is all about, but it isn't right! The Director is only helping us," begs Cali.

"No!" Connie shouts. "You have _no_ idea what's happening if you think that."

Cali reaches a hand toward her friend. "So tell me."

"I –" Connie's eyes find the camera again. "I can't." Her voice is strangled.

"Connie, if this is about me and Wash then I – " Cali frowns as she tries to think of the possible reasons for Connecticut's strange behavior.

"No, it's not. Please understand," begs Connie

"I'm trying to, but you're going to have to meet me halfway."

"The Insurrectionists." Connie's voice drops below a whisper and Cali barely catches her words.

Cali feels like someone dumped cold water over her head. She jerks back. "They won't help. They'll only take what you have," she says coldly.

"They won't. You don't know like I do," argues Connie stubbornly. She sighs in defeat and drops her shoulders. "I knew you wouldn't get it." She turns to leave.

"Connie? Wait! Tell me what's going on," yelps Cali.

The brown Freelancer yanks the door open, despite it being automatic. Its hinges squeal in protest at being treated so roughly. She darts away. Cali stands at the mouth of the corridor, staring after the woman she was once so close with.

XOX

Cali walks the halls for a long time after her argument with Connie. She can't shake the empty feeling left behind and neither can Tau. So instead they explore, going deep into the _Mother of Invention_. They wander far beyond the barracks, training room and armoury, leaving behind the turmoil and familiarity. Somewhere far in their tracks lies a couple dozen or so Freelancers and right now, Cali just needs to get away. To cool off. To think.

She passes a thick, reinforced door. The Director's voice is just barely within audible range but the heavy metal distorts it beyond comprehension. Cali slows and strains to catch the discussion.

Then a deep and harsh voice joins in. Cali leans close to the door to try and listen in. She can hear a sorrowful voice, it is beaten and distraught. Cali and Tau can feel it, the verge of discovery is within reach and –

"Hey, California, you can't be here!"

Cali sighs and lets the stuck-up trooper herd her back the way she came.

"I've been looking all over for you." Wash meets them in a familiar stretch of maze-like halls. "Where did you get to?"

"Tau wanted to go explore," she replies. "And, I had an… I had a disagreement with Con – I mean CT."

Wash nods understandingly as the trooper sidles away. "And you wanted to take a breather. I get it."

"So, what did you want me for?"

He tugs off his helmet and shows her and open and honest expression. This is not Agent Washington. This is David and she wants to be his. She mirrors him, asking Tau to log off internally.

"Come in for a sec?" She gestures in the direction of her room.

After his agreement, Cali heads off. He takes up position at her side. He lets his hand bump hers as they walk, inviting her to slide her fingers through his, which she does. She wishes the hallway will never end, that they can share each other's company until they die. Instead, she draws him into her room.

He helps her out of her armour. Cali's fingers are unwilling to comply from exhaustion. She throws on her _Mother of Invention_ emblazoned sleepwear – a grey shirt and black track pants with her codename stitched on the tags. As she does that, Wash pulls off his own suit. Cali scoops up her heap of gold and forest green and puts it in the trunk at the foot of her bed. He is piled on the flat steel lid like usual.

As Wash turns to her, Cali blinks as a wave of tiredness swamps her. She leans into him and kisses him slowly. He can tell her head isn't in it and lifts her from the floor easily. "Go to sleep," he says quietly, green eyes holding her grey ones.

"I'm not arguing," Cali says around a yawn. Wash sets her down in a sitting position on the edge of her bed. While Cali climbs under the covers he goes to the other side and dives in next to her. She snuggles into his chest comfortably and closes her eyes. As Cali falls asleep with ease, she sighs contentedly at Wash's arm holding her close.

XOX

When Cali wakes, Wash is stroking her dark red hair. "Go back to sleep," he says.

She frowns. He is armoured already though.

"I have to go. We're going after the Innies."

"Be careful," she murmurs. Cali turns her head and kisses his gloved hand.

He gently pulls away and slips silently from the room.


	4. Outrunning the Avalanche

_Happy Easter for those of you celebrating today and this weekend!_

_Thanks again for the lovely reviews, I appreciate it a huge amount. So here we are, action finally. This should be interesting. If you find any mistakes, don't hesitate to let me know. There's only so much I can do and I am by no means perfect. I love you all._

* * *

**Outrunning the Avalanche**

_Pistols drawn, better squeeze/Casket bound if you freeze – The More ~ Jeff Williams_

Cali stamps her feet impatiently. She has never watched an SOEIV pod hatch open so slowly in her _life_. Cali has just dropped onto a massive snowbound rock that the _Mother of Invention_ had been orbiting for the last half a day. Just after her drop, the ship boosted into a junkyard just outside of its planetary pull, a short ride by Pelican away. The Director ordered her to hoof it 10 kilometers to the local Sim Trooper base and plant a remote detonate charge outside the complex to trigger an avalanche in the ravine. A test for both her and Tau. She has to escape the snowslide, evade any and all SimulaTroops as well as meet her ride home at the rendezvous site at the appointed time.

The hydraulic door has finally cracked wide enough for Cali to hoist herself up and out of the pod, squeezing through the opening. She isn't claustrophobic, just impatient. She lands in chest-deep snow and hisses out a breath comprised nearly entirely of four-letter words. Cali takes in the blindingly white world. The day isn't bright, in fact it is overcast and snowing pretty hard. She is in a long, flat area. To the left and behind, there is only the spine of a mountain range. The rocky crags rise from the landscape just like the backbone of an agitated cat. Ahead there is a dense pine forest.

"Heading?" asks Cali.

"In the conifer stand you'll find a frozen-over river," replies Tau out loud for her helmet's benefit. "If you follow it, we will be able to use it as a path directly to the outposts."

"Got you. Anyone coming to investigate?"

"Motion tracker is clean, I doubt anybody saw our landing through the snow. I'm turning thermal on as your main filter as only Simulation Troopers will show up in this region."

"Go for it," she says.

With a flash, Cali's vision fades to blues and greens. She pulls her pack from the entry pod and shrugs it on. Next she pulls out her weapon. Cali then begins slogging through the powder. Her arms stick up over the snow – and her head – to keep the barrel of her shotgun clear. She isn't supposed to have to fight, but you just never know.

By the time her golden form is hidden under the evergreen trees, Cali's fingers are asleep. The snow here is not anywhere near as deep as in the clearing and she shakes them out as she scans for the river Tau mentioned. Cali spots the depression and smooth, snowy surface the ice sits under and heads for it.

"Will the ice hold me?" she asks, nearly stumbling over a log deeply buried by several feet of snow. She clamps her shotgun to her back magnet strips as she goes.

"The average temperature for the last three hundred and seventy-four years is negative forty-four degrees Celsius," her AI informs her. "Currently it is negative twenty-five. I should hope it'll hold."

Cali steps onto the long-frozen river. When she doesn't hear so much as a creak as her half-ton weight shifts onto the ice, Cali begins at a brisk jog. She enjoys the feeling of stretching her legs in a real environment for the first time in weeks. The planet's gravity is about 1.3 times that on board the _Invention_ and makes Cali feel as though she is dragging someone behind her, but she loves the natural light, trees and snow all around her.

Her long legs eat up the snowbound ground effortlessly. In a short time, the outpost is just on the other side of the hill rising up in front of Cali. She climbs the incline, barely out of breath from her long run. A quick glance reveals just how busy this base truly is. About a dozen white-hot Troopers are inside the closest building while near that figure patrol outside. There are nearly fifty Sims in this particular outpost. Sneaking in will be a good challenge. Cali almost feels bad for them.

"Tau, set a waypoint for the best location to plant the charges," she orders.

"Calculating… Ready."

Cali switches back to human sight filters. A blue diamond pops up on Cali's HUD. The distance readout proclaims she has to walk 850 meters along the ravine wall to the centre and stick her charges directly into the cliff face.

"So then I was like, 'Well, if you're gonna go that far, you should at least take the whipping cream.' And _he_ was like, 'Yeah, but she'll kill me if she wakes up to that!'"

She drops to her stomach as a patrol turns and begins marching in her direction. She jams their comm link from her helmet. Quickly, Cali belly crawls over the ridge and activates her stealth unit. As Tau takes control of the armour enhancement, she checks on the condition of her explosives. A wave of fury crashes over her as she looks into her pack. She only has a pile of spike grenades. Cali grinds her teeth and curses every possible member of the Director's family, mainly his mother.

Cali takes cover behind an outcropping on the ravine's rocky wall. "Tau, what can we do?"

"The best plan would be to simply lodge the grenades in the blowpoint and run," he says. He pops out and looks apologetic. He scuffs his feet awkwardly. "I had no idea – "

"I know you didn't," Cali interrupts gently. "There's nothing to do now but hope we don't get blown up or buried in the blast."

Painstakingly slowly, Cali stands. She stays low and crunches to the waypoint, despite being invisible to the naked eye and helmet cams of the Troopers below. She plants the six spike grenades. "Which way should I run?"

"Your left; back the way we came."

"That's right in front of the exploding grenades and falling ice," Cali objects.

"The ledge ends in a sixty-foot gap to the right. There will be nowhere for us to go."

Cali grinds her teeth again – something she has never previously done. "This whole op is fucking shit!"

But she takes a deep breath and yanks the pins as she moves left down the line. The final one sticks stubbornly. The countdown until the first detonation reads less than ten seconds. Cali screams in frustration as she wrenches on the pin but it won't detach. Just as she turns, hoping the explosion will set it off anyhow, the count reaches zero and the first grenade goes off.

Cali fights the shockwave and icy shower. Instead, she drags her right arm to the ground and orders Tau to engage her Armour Lock instead. As the white glow sparks to life, Cali feels a heavy boulder slam into her left side. Despite the flickering energy shield, pain momentarily blinds her. Her armour goes rigid around her and the dislodged rock jostles Cali. By now the shield is full strength and there is no new pain.

Finally, the explosions end. Now Cali has to run before being encased in several tons of rock and snow. She swallows the fire flaring from her neck to hip and sprints for the ridge with everything she has. Cali dodges falling ice the size of her torso, way beyond caring if any Reds or Blues spot her now.

After what feels like months, Cali breaks free of the landslide. She looks over her shoulder at the cascade of black stone and glittering snow. There is a strange beauty in the terrific force of nature.

"Cali, we need to meet the Pelican at the extraction point!" Tau's urging breaks into her reverie.

She realizes her right hand is pressing the left side of her ribcage and she is heaving in great breaths. "Show… me," Cali forces out.

Their destination is several kilometers away. Cali's heart sinks as she forces herself into a jog. Immediately her body protests and her vision darkens at the edges. Cali pops her helmet and attaches it to her back, still gasping like a fish out of water. She keeps stumbling through the snow. Barely able to see from the driving snow and stinging wind, she relies on Tau to keep her going the right way.

After about ten minutes, Cali drops to her knees. She coughs painfully and scarlet blood dots the snow between her knee plates. "That… can't be good," she groans.

Tau's black and white figure appears at head-level. "Get up, Cali," he demands, eyes sharp.

Though it sends jolts of agony through her, Cali staggers upright. She screams through gritted teeth and somehow finds the will to continue dragging one armoured foot in front of the other.

She reaches the pine stand some time later. Cali leans against one trunk, it is almost entirely blanketed by moss and sinks down under her weight.

"Cali, you need to keep moving," Tau growls.

"Need to… breathe," she pants roughly, throat dry. Sweat instantly freeze-dries to her face and her mouth is parched. Cali's lips sting when she talks as they split and her tongue is coated with salty blood. She doesn't know if it is from her cracked lips or from coughing.

"_No_, you _can't_ stop!" Tau keeps yelling at Cali, hounding her.

Cali's eyelids are drooping from exhaustion and agony. She wants so much to just lay down in the snow. She knows that if she does, she'll simply freeze to death after losing consciousness.

"Let's move, Agent California!" Tau just continues screaming.

Cali swats at him, angry now. Unbalanced from the sloppy blow, Cali staggers forward to keep from falling face-first into the crispy snow. She fumbles a few more steps. "_The fuck is your problem_?" she snaps, somewhere between a growl and a scream.

"_Move_!" Tau responds in kind.

Cali runs a few unsteady steps more and breaks out of the trees. There she sees a Pelican waiting. She teeters over the last stretch of open ground and collapses in the troop bay. She lays there, gasping and tries not to pay attention to the sickening lurches as the Pelican takes off. The world spins around and around.

"Agent California?" the pilot is calling her.

She pulls herself into a seat and hauls down the restraining bar with the last of her strength. Cali ignores the pilot's anxious quizzing. She slumps forward whispering, "Thanks Tau." It comes out slurred beyond comprehension but the AI feels her gratitude well up before Cali passes out.


	5. Back At It

_Monday, Monday, Monday. What am I to do with you? How about another chapter? And, as I may have indirectly promised one or two of you, more action. This should help everyone figure out where we are in the timeline now. From here on in we will be seeing a lot more of RvB's canon events._

_Thanks go out to AgentDC for letting me bait him with hints and bounce ideas, Lili-Hunter for your - once again - kind words. I would also like to express my appreciation to all my followers, favouriters and lurkers. The rest of my reviewers: thank you for making me the luckiest author in the world with your continued support! You guys are truly the best fans in the whole world. I love you!_

_Rooster Teeth owns the important things, I only piggyback on their awesomeness._

* * *

**Back At It**

_Run for cover, my sense of fear is running thin - Fallen ~ Imagine Dragons_

She wakes up in the Pelican. Stabbing pain in her left side shoots through her as the craft jostles. They must be landing.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty," calls the pilot, "up and at 'em. We're home."

Cali one-handedly punches the restraining bar's release. She leans heavily on the headrest as she stands shakily. Cali manages to hobble her way down the ramp. The hangar is quiet, a nice change of pace in her opinion. It is usually busier than the mess hall and even louder. Today, only Cali and her pilot pick their way between crate and craft.

She swings right in the first hallway and wall-crawls her way to the Infirmary wing. Inside, York is having a swollen mass of bruising attended to while Wash looks on.

Cali tries to clear her throat but it dissolves into a hacking fit that spatters blood on the formerly spotless white floor. That gets the medic's attention. Cali glares at the blood spot in annoyance. Both the medic and Wash both snap their gazes to her, York stays where he is - else he will get a firm poke in the eye.

"Back so soon?" Cali asks Wash and York in a croak. She grins lopsidedly and swipes away the blood from her chin. Then she falls to the floor with a heavy thud, unconscious again.

XOX

Cali feels a thousand times better when next she wakes, albeit as though the skin on her side is being stretched. With a moan, she opens her eyes to Wash's worried face.

Cali tries to sit up.

"Hey, hey," warns the other agent, grabbing her shoulder. "The medics patched your lung and fixed your ribs but you're going to have to rest until they give you a once-over."

Cali nods. "How long – ?"

"Four hours," responds Wash before she even finished her query.

She sees something is wrong, his face is still shadowed by some kind of hurt. "What happened?"

Wash's brow draws down and he rubs his eyes before replying this time. "They Insurrectionists – they were waiting for us. Their ship tangled with the _Invention_, left a nuke for us and I almost got hit by a falling Warthog. Okay wait, we were fighting in their hangar, I accidentally turned the gravity off and when I turned it back on, the Hog almost crushed me. When we were heading after the leader after the Warthog thing, South noticed Con – CT was missing. York dropped in and we jetpacked over to the junk yard. Then that other stuff happened. Still no CT."

Cali takes a moment to frown and untangle the whole story. "Wow, are you okay?" she asks quietly after figuring it all out.

Wash nods with a noncomittal grunt. "What happened to you?"

Cali relates her story. "And then I woke up here,"she finishes.

"You went along with it?" Wash exclaims in incredulity. "Six frickin' grenades and you did it anyway?"

Cali shrugs. "I had to, you know that. I couldn't just turn around and fail," she protests. "It was the first mission with Tau, I couldn't screw it up."

Wash still looks angry but doesn't press the matter. "You know, the Armour Lock should have saved you from that rock," he says thoughtfully, changing the subject.

"I think we were just too slow," she muses. "The shield wasn't full strength when it fell on me."

"Still, three broken ribs – and one that punctured your lung," he adds with a shake of his blond head.

"That's why I couldn't breathe," Cali mutters. "What else did I do?"

"You had some pretty bad frostbite, a pile of bruises and the worst cracked lips ever. Of all time," he lists off. "The medic said he saw some ice blisters on your face but that they weren't too bad."

Just then, a doctor appears behind Wash. He pushes the silver and yellow Freelancer aside gently. Following that, he wordlessly checks Cali over. "You're good to go," he announces finally, dismissing her.

She dips her head gratefully and lets Wash help her up. Cali clutches his shoulder pauldron as the room spins momentarily. Bu the time they reach the corridor, she walks confidently on her own. Tau lends her some strength as they go.

"Agent California, it is good to see you doing well," FILSS says brightly.

"Thanks," she replies, wondering where this is going.

"The Director has scheduled a training match for you against Agent Nevada in thirty minutes on the training room floor."

"What, already?" Wash demands in disbelief.

"I feel fine now," says Cali. "Modern medicine is a miracle."

He doesn't look convinced but lets it go.

Cali sighs apologetically. "I guess I had better get into some armour then."

"I'll head up and watch," Wash tells her. "Just do what you always do."

She rolls her eyes. "I can always count on you for an kick-ass pep talk," laughs Cali. She grabs his hand and gives it a quick squeeze before hurrying to get changed.

XOX

Cali stands at one side of the floor, fists loosely held at her sides. Across the arena-like room is a short, dark green and black suited Freelancer. "Nev" is in a shallow crouch, one hand near her waist and other by her chin. Cali feels bad for her AI-lacking friend.

"Round One, hand-to-hand combat. Begin. Good luck," announces FILSS cheerfully.

Tau urges Cali forward. She cuts left as she crosses to Nevada's side at a quick jog. She picks up speed until reaching a sprint. A line of tight muscles are the only indication she was laid up with a shattered ribcage and deflated lung three hours ago. Cali feints a backhand at her opponent's face on the right. Nev falls for it and steps left to avoid it, into Cali's sweeping kick. She skips back before the dark Freelancer recovers. Cali knows that despite Nev's short stature, she can hit hard.

Tau suggests a second assault. Cali acknowledges him and delivers an open-handed blow to the side of Nev's green head. She stays close, eyes scanning for any indication of the other woman's imminent retaliation. But she is well-trained and gives nothing away. It is only Tau's warning that make Cali leap into the air, jumping the leg Nev flashes out a knee-height. As Cali lands, she twists and skids behind Nevada. She snakes her arms around Nev's narrow shoulders and head. Cali pulls her arms in different directions gently, a warning that she could easily snap the Freelancer's neck in this position.

Nev thrashes wildly, trying to escape but in her panicky state only lands glancing blows, doing nothing more than inflicting a handful of bruises.

"Give up, I'm not letting go," growls Cali.

Nevada goes limp in her arms. Cali isn't fooled by this ploy and allows her opponent to flop to the floor, dropping on top of her. Cali uses her greater height to pin Nev to the cement floor, forearm under her chin and applies a bit of pressure. Cali sits on the green woman's abdomen, knees on either side of her adversary's body.

"Round One awarded to Agent California," FILSS chimes.

Cali stands and strides evenly to her side again, leaving Nev to peel herself from the floor in defeat.

"Round Two, stun staffs."

Cali grabs the meter-long rod from the rack that rises from the floor. She swings it experimentally. She is unsurprised at the ease of her victory, then shakes it off. Anything can happen at any moment. She brings the glorified metal rod around in a long motion again. Tau feels how it cuts through the air and how she moves with it so he can watch for it in Nev. He asks to try something. Cali gives him approval.

"Begin," prompts the shipboard AI.

Cali feels as though her arms and legs have gone numb. She watches herself take a step. Tau's euphoria at manipulating her body is infectious. Cali lets him take full control, eager to watch this unfold.

Feeling as though she is dreaming, Tau meets Nev in the centre of the floor, staffs crackling with energy as they collide. Blue sparks fly in every direction as they break apart. Tau quickly swings for Nevada's chest which she hastily blocks. More sparks bounce off the floor as their staffs clash again. Nev's side dips as she moves to kick them away. Cali warns Tau and he makes Cali's fist spring back. He releases it into Nevada's visor. Reflexively Nev jerks back, unbalanced from her weight shift.

Tau cracks her in the knees with a backhanded swipe, sending the green Freelancer sprawling. He kicks aside Nev's staff and brings Cali's inches from their opponent's helmet.

Cali oozes back into her body and, well aware of the rules, raps her staff against Nev's head. A paralyzing effect takes hold of the smaller woman, allowing Cali to retreat, once again leaving Agent Nevada in a puddle of loss and frustration.

"Round Two awarded to Agent California, who now leads two points to zero," informs FILSS.

Cali replaces her staff on its rack. She rolls her shoulders and stretches her neck before watching Nev stagger around on jelly legs.

"Round three, lock – a Freelancer will be joining the training session under the Director's authorization," the shipboard AI interrupts herself. "Agent DC will be joining Agent Nevada. Round Three, lockdown paint will begin now."

The door slides open to admit the white and red Freelancer. He strides over to Nev and helps her to the table laid out with paint rounds and pistols.

Cali grins, ready for the challenge. She sticks a couple of extra magazines of paint to her belt and takes up position behind a pillar as it rises from the floor. All around the training floor, oblong pillars seem to grow out of nowhere at regular intervals like jutting teeth. She activates her cloaking enhancement and drifts from pillar to pillar before finding a good position. Cali deactivates it and settles in to wait.

In no time, Nev – ready for retribution – stalks past Cali. Tau lets her go. Cali allows her to wander while moving up to take DC. Cali slips around the rectangular stone and scans for him. DC is weaving sedately towards her, finger to his comm. Cali ducks behind a new cover and reaches her paint pistol around it. Tau aims for DC's chest and Cali pulls the trigger four times in quick succession. She hears the paint splatter against armour and peeks around to the sight of him leaning back from the force of impact, his torso covered in hardened pink globs. Cali shoots his visor and gun elbow just to be sure he can't hit her back.

By now, Nev will be hurrying to hit Cali off guard. The gold and green agent grins to herself and grabs the top of her pillar. She hops once, twice and jumps as high as she can, using her arms to haul her bulk onto the flat top of the stone. Cali crouches and looks down the aisles for movement. Just as expected, Nev runs straight to DC. Cali rolls her eyes at the green and black Freelancer's ridiculous mistake and shoots her solidly from knees to lower back. As Nev falls forward, she hits DC and the two tumble to the floor together.

Cali laughs at the sight of Nevada leaping off of her teammate, paint still dripping as it liquefies again. She spins her pistol and looks pleased with herself inside her helmet. Cali hops down from the pillar and lands in a crouch.

"Round Three awarded to Agent California," announces FILSS. "Training match complete, the victor is Agent California. Congratulations."

Cali smiles and unloads her pistol. She crosses the floor to bump fists with DC and Nevada. The green Freelancer does so then marches from the training room. Cali is proud of herself and Tau. She skips out of the room to meet Wash. He bounds down the stairs leading up to the observation deck.

"Whoa, that was awesome," he enthuses.

Cali ducks her head at his praise, hiding a grin behind her visor. Suddenly she finds herself pressed against the silver Lancer's chestplate and laughs. Cali leans into Wash and closes her eyes. If every day could be like this, Cali –

"Agent California, the Director has requested a meeting with you to assess your previous assignment," FILSS breaks the moment with her perky voice. She sweetens the order to the bridge _right now _annoyingly.

Wash groans in annoyance, making Cali chuckle. He tightens his hold on her. "Don't answer that AI," he hisses, only half joking.

"Tell him I'll be there as soon as I escape Wash's bear hug," Cali replies, making her voice sound muffled.

"He is already waiting, Agent California," warns the AI.

Cali shuffles an awkward pace down the corridor. "I'll make you a deal," she offers.

"I'm listening."

"If you let go right now, I won't drag you up to the bridge and we'll take a walk after."

Wash sighs. "I'll meet you outside the locker rooms." He releases Cali reluctantly and watches her jog to the neural centre of the _Invention_.

Cali skids to a halt at the entrance to the bridge. She pops off her helmet and runs a hand through her auburn hair before slipping inside.

The Director looks out the floor-to-ceiling windows at a grey-brown planet far away. Surprisingly, Cali notices they are the only two in the room.

"I am pleased to see you healthy again, California." The middle-aged man doesn't turn from the view. His voice is low and a Southern accent wraps around his words.

Cali bites back a cutting, _No thanks to your spike grenades and misinformation_. Settling instead for, "You haven't seen me yet."

He looks around fleetingly. The Director gives her a quick up and down sweep with his crystalline green eyes. "Your match a few minutes ago was astounding. FILSS calculated a 42.1% increase in efficiency now that you have an AI."

"Tau does an exceptional job," Cali agrees without giving much away. Her AI inquires why she isn't honest. Something about what Connie said has been embedded in Cali's mind like a barbed thorn She doesn't trust the Director.

"I want to speak with Tau." It isn't a request even though it is framed as one.

The AI obliges and projects his black and white figure between the two humans. "Hello Director, how are you today?" he asks politely.

"I am fine. Do you know where Agent Connecticut is right now?" The question throws Tau and Cali momentarily. What does she have to do with them?

"I fail to comprehend how that is relevant." Cali bites down hard on her tongue to suppress a grin. Tau only speaks so formally if he is withholding information. Not that the Director would know. Cali adds two and two. The Director knows Connie said something she shouldn't have known to somebody.

"That isn't important, Tau. Answer the question."

"I do not know the location of that Freelancer."

"Do you know if she was in contact with anyone still here before she left?"

"Agent Connecticut had a disagreement with Agent Washington after the failure of Case 1.045. Other than that, I have no idea."

Even thought they are loathe to incriminate Wash, security tapes could say as much.

"How do you know that?" asks the Director.

"Agent California was listening to their exchange," replies Tau without giving any detail.

The Director turns finally. "What was she and California arguing about before she left?"

Though the dig is for Tau, he scrutinizes Cali's face while the AI responds.

"It was regarding the Leader Board," fibs Tau. "California offered to aid Agent Connecticut who refused, saying she did not think you would approve."

Cali keeps her face impassive. She tries not to think about the fact that the conversation had only vaguely strayed in that direction.

"California, are you aware Connecticut was in contact with an Insurrectionist leader before her defection?"

Cali looks the Director evenly in the eye and replies confidently, "What? Holy shi – what? No. I – I had no idea. How could she do that?" Tau stops her before Cali says too much, too vehemently.

The Director nods. "Thank you, you are dismissed."

Cali walks halfway to the door. A thought strikes her and she halts. "What will you do to her?" she asks over her shoulder. Cali fights to keep her voice neutral. As if she doesn't care either way what happens.

"I will treat her as the backstabbing deserter she is," comes the frigid reply.

Cali's heart plummets. She nods and stalks out of the bridge. Poor Connie, a girl who no one listened to. Cali realizes with a guilty start that she ignored Connie as well. This is partially her fault.

On the bridge, a second figure steps away from the wall and shimmers into view. The Director doesn't turn to regard it, but there is no doubt he sees it.

"Carolina?" he asks evenly.

"She lied."


	6. The Way We Are

_Hey guys. This one is shorter, but I thought it was beyond time for a fluffy, poorly put together characterization chapter. _

_Thanks for sticking with this. I would just like to say that this chapter takes us to about 14k words. That's pretty awesome!_

* * *

**The Way We Are**

Cali is staring at the Leader Board. She just finished filing Wash in. As she lets him mull it over, she reads the standings. First place, Tex. Second place, Carolina. Third place, York. Fourth place, Wyoming. Fifth place, North. Sixth place, Wash. Seventh, Maine. Eighth, South. Cali's name is glowing just below the younger Dakota's. Cali feels even more deflated when she sees Nevada under her. That is where Connie was ranked.

Cali reads through all fifty ranks and finds her AWOL friend last before all the KIA agents. That means there is a great big, ugly 47 in front of Connecticut. It looks so out of place, Connie's points number in the three hundred thousands and lack of KIA sticks out under the meager point amounts floating around the low-hundreds mark.

The only agents worse off than Connecticut are Utah – who died when he used his bubble shield in the field and got fried – Georgia – who burned out his jetpack in empty space so long ago, never to be seen again – and Michigan – who died in a freak lockdown paint accident. Mich had been shot in the head and paint had gotten into her air filters and comm box, suffocating the Freelancer and keeping her from summoning help back in the day before VISR-activated PA systems.

Seeing Connie down with the Compies, or Incompetent Freelancers, is hard for Cali.

"Why didn't you tell him anything?" Wash finally asks.

Cali touches the glowing 47 in front of her with the tips of her gloved fingers gingerly. "First of all, you'd get the third-degree from him about that day," she explains. "And the other thing, the Director is already pissed. Could you imagine if I'd told him she'd been passing intel to the Innies? Or, you know, that _other_ thing she tried to tell me about?"

Wash runs a hand over Cali's hair. "I guess you have a point. But what can we – ?"

"Attention Freelancers Carolina, Maine, North Dakota, New York, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming: Please report to Room 354 immediately," interrupts FILSS.

Wash hisses a couple of expletives. "I completely forgot," he says apologetically. "I have an AI class and – "

"Just go, don't be late because of me." Cali pushes him down the corridor playfully. "I'll be around when you're done."

He waves as he rounds a corner. Cali grins to herself at his goofiness. She shakes her head and goes in search of a way to pass some time.

XOX

Cali goes to observe Illinois and New Mexico fumble their way through a training session. The two Compies managed to hit one stationary target each with a pistol at forty yards. Cali doubts she has ever watched anything so painful in her _life_ – and she once watched paint dry in her quarters for four hours. Though she doubts she actually spent that time watching the paint. Wash was being... distracting, to say the least. She can't find it in her to smile at the memory now.

By the time the session is over, Cali is nearly bored to tears. She shakes her head at the pathetic Freelancers and makes her way to meet her friends after their class. Once upon a time, New Mexico was a bright, up-and-coming Lancer, an asset to the programme. That was before his suit short circuited and left him oxygen-starved for ten minutes. The medics should never have bothered resuscitating him, Mexico was pretty much as close to being a vegetable without needing machines to breathe for him as anyone can get. Oh the miracles of physio and therapy. The Director should really have just sent him home and let his family figure it out.

Cali arrives at the classroom before everyone is let out. She leans on the wall opposite the door to wait out the last few minutes. Tau captures her attention by dredging up distant memories.

_Cali feels her mouth fall slack as the image of a young boy racing across a lawn develops in her mind's eye. He has the same auburn hair she does and smiles as he runs. In the distance, someone calls a name. His head swivels about to a point just beyond Cali. They boy yells a reply._

_Now Cali is sitting on a white expanse of wickedly hot sand. A clear blue sky weighs heavy with humidity and screaming sea gulls. A well-built, black-haired man is next to her and speaking to a beautiful woman who – with her fiery hair and pale grey eyes – can only be Cali's mother. The boy is digging a pit with a flashy blue shovel nearby._

_"You should help me," he says, panting slightly. "With your help, this hole will be huge! Maybe we can dig all the way to China."_

_Cali rolls her eyes at him. "Stupid, the core of the planet will melt you down long before you hit China."_

_"Would not Calina!"_

_"If you managed to dig the twenty-some kilometers down to the core, that is," Cali adds with a sneer._

_"That's enough fighting, you two," Cali's mother interjects with a face like thunder. "Cali is right, Jackson, but is wasn't a nice way to say it."_

_The two youngsters mumble apologies under their mother's sharp gaze._

The sound of a door opening snaps attention back to the present with a jolt. She stands and shakes her head as though shaking away the past. South pushes past her in a cloud of annoyance. Cali rolls her eyes and sidesteps out of Carolina's path.

"Hey." York ruffles Cali's red hair by way of greeting.

Cali stoops away and shoves the tan Freelancer to the side. He narrowly avoids North who is chatting to Theta and doesn't even notice York.

Wash shoulders into York who is now blocking the doorway. "Hey, you can't park it here! Some of your friends might want to actually _leave_."

"_York_ has _friends_?" teases Cali. She grins at Wash, thanking him for that setup.

York pretends to be wounded by her comment and stands firm in the room's only entrance/exit. "Since I don't have friends, I guess no one wants me to move." He crosses his arms with a huff.

Delta appears between the infiltration specialist and Cali. "York, you need to be at the – "

"Oh, right! York, you have that thing, remember?" Cali snaps her fingers as if she suddenly recalled the information. "I guess you have to stop standing in everyone's way."

"I can cancel," he threatens. "D?"

Cali takes a step back as a large, white shape materializes behind York and Wash.

"Giving up already, are yo – ?" York is cut off abruptly as Wash tumbles into him. Maine grins and holds his baseball glove-sized hands out, still following through with his shove. The tan and silver Freelancers land in a knot of metal and limbs. They groan and Wash shakes one of York's boots from his head. Maine steps over the mound with a self-satisfied growl. Then he nods at Cali and rubs his eyes.

Cali hastily throws a _thank you_ over her shoulder before diving into the pile of limbs. North, having concluded the discussion with his AI, joins them on the floor with a yell.

Cali's head bobs up and down with the chest of a laughing Lancer. The motion makes her begin to giggle as well. Then she has to shift as somebody pulls their arm out from under her back with a noise of pain.

"You guys are heavy," complains Wash.

North promptly rolls his weight onto the silver Freelancer. Wash's breath rushes out and tickles Cali's ear.

Wyoming throws a strange look at the four friends pig-piled on the hall floor and triple jumps over them.

"Hey, Wash," Cali says suddenly. She waits for him to reply.

"Cali?" he manages breathlessly.

"Did you know you're the last of us without an AI?"

"Yeah. Now's time you say?" he asks of her in a shortened sentence to conserve oxygen.

"Just thought now. Forget if wait," she mimics him.

North laughs, causing her head to bounce again.

"How do you have friends?" York mutters.

"It's a mystery why we put up with them," agrees North after catching his breath. He puts a hand in Cali's face and uses it to push himself into a vertical position. "Don't you have somewhere to be, York?"

"Not really. One boring appointment with the Director," he says with a shrug. The gesture hits Cali in the newly-redone side and sets a line of fire along her ribs.

Cali protests and swallows down the pain.

"Agent York, it is unwise to keep the Director waiting for our presence," Delta prompts his Freelancer.

"Okay, okay D, we're leaving already!" York shifts so he can stand too.

As he and North's purple and green shape turn a corner, Wash moves nearer to Cali. "What did you do while we were stuck here?" he inquires.

Cali shrugs and tells him about New Mexico and Illinois. He rolls his eyes at the pair's helplessness. Then she recounts Tau's memory search.

"Whoa, how are you? I mean, about your family?" Wash squeezes her shoulder comfortingly. Not that she can really feel it, but the thought makes her feel warm.

Cali doesn't reply right away. When she does, her voice is small. "I don't remember them very well," she admits. "Besides, I already _have_ a family."

He quirks an eyebrow at her.

"I have four sisters – South, Carolina, Tex and Connie – and four brothers – Wyoming, North, York and Maine – an annoying and overprotective mother – FILSS – and a no-nonsense father – the Director. Plus all of our other friends," explains Cali. She turns and touches Wash's face. "I have you."

He smiles at her. Cali winces as a muscle in her recently patched side seizes. She stands up and gingerly stretches it out. Wash gets up and takes her hand. "How about that walk I was promised hours ago?" he suggests.

"Sounds good to me," replies Cali.


	7. Left Behind Again

_Going to keep it brief. Glad everyone is still enjoying this. Views equal love._

* * *

**Left Behind Again**

_If I could just find you tonight – The Northern Wind ~ City and Colour_

The next day, the _Mother of Invention_ pulls into orbit over the dusty brown planet.

Cali wakes to Wash stroking her hair gently. When he sees her eyes open, he pulls her in for a long, slow kiss. She wishes she could lock this moment in time, like so many others in his company.

"Agent Washington, you will be late for the briefing," warns FILSS.

Cali groans into Wash's mouth. "Damn dumb AI."

But she breaks the kiss so he can get up. She follows him out of bed and starts strapping into her gold armour as he does the same with his own suit. In no time at all, the two Freelancers are dressed and heading down the corridor to the briefing room.

"What's going on?" she asks.

Wash tightens his hold on her hand. "The Director is sending us after the Innies and… and Connie," he replies after a pause.

Cali bites her lip. "Be careful," she says. She feels Tau reach out and strengthen her voice so Wash won't detect the tremble.

He kisses her check before sliding on his helmet. Then he ducks into the briefing room and is gone.

Cali touches her cheek. She can still feel where his lips made contact. Cali swallows back a mixture of wistfulness and frustration at being left behind. Again.

She shoves the emotions away. She works alone. Always has. Really, it's better this way.

Tau appears before her. "We could always have a one-person session. The training room is open. Or there is also the gym," he suggests. He tips his dark head and awaits her answer like a dog.

"Training," Cali responds decisively. "Working out will only give me more time to think."

Despite her best wishes, Cali can't help but feel worry creeping in as she hits the green holotargets. She employs a range of mixed martial arts and gymnastics to turn them all pink. Carolina showed Cali this particular exercise a little over a month ago and it quickly became her favourite. Currently, she holds the second best score, right behind the cyan Freelancer by only fifteen points. Now that Tau can choose her next target, Cali can't wait to smash that score.

"Congratulations Agent California, you are showing a 41% increase," says FILSS brightly. "You have surpassed the record of one thousand-fifty-three, or sixty targets in thirty seconds, set by – "

"Run it again FILSS. Thanks," growls Cali. She still hasn't forgiven the ship's program for interrupting with Wash this morning.

Cali bounces a little on the balls of her feet as the simulation reboots. Then she and Tau throw themselves into the exercise, trying not to wonder what is happening planetside. After a few more rounds they tire of the training and head to the locker room to change. Cali throws on a form-fitting green running tank top and shorts in exchange for her heavy armour and grabs a full water bottle. She decides to give the gym a visit.

The only other Freelancer in the workout area is Maine. The hulking man is leaning his head on the wall and doesn't look around when Cali strides in.

"Another one?" she asks in concern. His headaches should definitely have cleared up by now.

He only dips his head once in reply. Cali crosses the floor and puts a hand on his shoulder. She has to stretch up to touch the massive Freelancer and sees the thick layer of muscle under his skin.

"You want to spar? A bit of activity should make it go away," she suggests. "No AI. Just you and me."

Maine growls softly. Cali recognizes the positive timbre and moves back. He steps away from the garishly-hued yellow Titanium-A wall. Cali leads the way to the boxing-style ring off to one side of the gym, weaving between weight sets and treadmills. She slips through the elastic ropes and kicks off her shoes. While she waits for the bald man to mimic her, Cali stretches out her arms.

Maine takes a stance opposite her, knees slightly bent and fists hovering over his wide chest.

"Tau, log off," she orders her AI.

"On it," he acknowledges.

"No cheating, Sigma. No bending the rules. Just Maine against me," she says clearly. Then Cali slides into her own combat stance.

Maine takes a stride towards her, drawing back an arm to deliver a strong punch. Cali knows even _blocking_ his hits will hurt. She will have to rely on her speed to win. Cali waits to see where her adversary aims his attack. Once she is certain he is moving for her right side, she uses her memory of Maine's fighting to calculate his follow up move – a sucker punch to the jaw from the left – and drops to the floor. Cali sweeps out a leg, aiming to knock Maine's feet out from under him. The big Freelancer jumps it easily.

She explodes from the mat and throws out her left elbow. She catches Maine in the chest and he backs off a couple of feet to avoid the jab. Cali dances forward, feinting right and then plants a foot and kicks up the other at his chin. As expected, Maine grabs her ankle and twists her leg. Cali allows him to spin her and pulls her free foot off the floor. This spinning kick connects with his chest lightly. Maine releases Cali wisely. She lands in a crouch with a grin.

"That's a hit," she says, hardly out of breath. "Match?"

Maine growls a string of incomprehensible sounds.

Cali frowns. "Slower."

He huffs. Then hisses, pointing at his chest. He growls a short, rough sound deep in his throat and imitates walking with a hand.

"You walked?" she guesses. She sighs when he shakes his head impatiently.

The mute Freelancer repeats the two motions and adds a second hiss, covering one hand with the other. Maine points at Cali and give a low whistle.

"You went on me?"

He nods. Then he slaps two palms together and shakes his head.

"Not hard… Easy!" Cali crows as realization dawns. "You went easy on me!"

Maine rumbles with a smile. The gesture of happiness reaches his dark brown eyes.

"Thanks for that," she replies half jokingly.

"Agent Maine, report to Drop Bay Two immediately," chirps FILSS suddenly.

Maine hisses an affirmative and grabs Cali's arm.

"Not a problem, I had fun," she says. "Good luck and tell the others to be careful down there."

Maine nods before running from the bright yellow gym.

Now that her opponent is gone, Cali decides to do some real working out. She starts off at a punching bag to let off some steam.

An hour later, she is hot, sweaty, tired and getting into the locker room shower. She turns it on and cranks the heat. She pulls the handheld head from its fixture and sprays steaming water on her recently reconstructed side, easing the ache from the muscles. Modern medicine certainly is awesome but not a miracle worker. Cali replaces the shower head and just stands under the stream of water. She enjoys the feeling of the sweat and dirt washing away.

Four minutes later, FILSS cuts the water supply. Cali complains loudly but the AI ignores her. Eventually, Cali stops stabbing repeatedly at the 'on' button and wraps her towel around herself. She tosses on an old and faded blue Varsity Grifball t-shirt from when she captained the university team back home. She adds a pair of trackpants with her team name – Monsters – and nickname – Topper – written down the left leg. Cali slips her feet into a pair of sneakers. As she laces them, Cali feels a wave of uneasiness roll through her. Tau wonders if it isn't something to do with the planetside events.

He says he feels some kind of fight going on from Omega, Delta and Theta.

Cali leaves the locker room and, having nothing more pressing to attend to, stares at the Board. She sees one change, twenty-five and twenty-six have switched, putting Montana three hundred points ahead of Nebraska. Cali rests her head against the cool Flexi-glas surface with a deep breath in. For some reason she can't readily explain, Cali feels as though all the light has gone out of the ship.

"Look," urges Tau unexpectedly.

Cali pulls back and lets him focus her eyes on the right area. Connecticut glows red briefly and a big, ugly acronym flashes up beside the Freelancer's name. Three letters Cali hates more than anything.

_KIA_

Agent Connecticut is gone.

Cali can only stare for a moment, her jaw slowly dropping open. Then she feels like she has just been punched in the gut. Cali wraps her arms around her stomach and slides to the floor in a puddle of denial. No way. Not Connecticut, the girl who had been so kind on that first day. Not CT, her roommate for those first months. Certainly not Connie, her best friend for so long, _dead_.

A sob forces its way out of Cali. If only she'd just listened for a _moment_ to Connie that day about the Director. If only she had paid more attention. If she had, none of this would be happening now.

Cali feels wetness on her cheeks and discovers she is crying.

XOX

That is how Wash finds her hours later. He puts a gentle hand on her cheek, feeling the dry skin where her tears have left salty trails. Cali wakes up from her impromptu nap, eyes sore and throat raw. She cracks her neck loudly and scrambles to her feet.

Wash looks like hell. His eyes are red-rimmed and glassy, honey coloured hair disheveled. But he is strong and warm. Cali throws her arms around his neck and they just stay like that for a long time. Just holding one another.

Wordlessly they go to the mess hall to meet the others. North, South and York are knotted tightly on one side of the table. Maine, Wyoming and Florida occupy the middle. Carolina sits across from Tex, they are both focused entirely on eating and do not even look over as Wash and Cali enter. Cali sets herself down heavily between North and Wash silently. A thick silence seems to flow out of her and engulf the hall. Cali eats mechanically, not even tasting her meal. As soon as she finishes, Tau offers an idea.

"We should have a service," blurts Cali.

"She was a lying traitor," Carolina hisses icily.

"She was also a teammate, our friend. She deserved better," argues York.

Cali is shocked he opposes the team leader.

"Do what you want," shrugs Carolina. "I don't care."

"I think it's a good idea," North says slowly. His sister nods.

"Airlock Ten, 2030 hours," Cali says. "We'll find a box or something with a few of her things and flush it out of the _Invention_."

The other Freelancers murmur consents.

XOX

Cali clears her throat. The sound echoes in the massive antechamber. The other Freelancers immediately hush their conversations. Cali turns a small object over and over in her fingers while summoning the words she planned. She stands in the centre of the clear floor. Directly below her is a hurricane spinning across an otherwise calm sea. That is where she wishes she could be. The dead middle of that storm. The calm centre in a turbulent world. There it is silent amid the howling winds and heavy rains. There she wouldn't have to deal with the death of a friend.

Tau slides from Cali's mind and shakes his hands out. A mirror of Cali's nerves. "I know I am not allowed to speak with other AI but I can talk with Freelancers," he says. "And I have a few words for this gathering."

Cali stands straighter now that there is no going back. She glances evenly around the room.

Tau pauses before continuing. "Agent Connecticut, CT, Connie," he says, "she was a teammate, friend Freelancer. But more than that, a sister. She was fair, kind and reliable. She would have given anything and everything for all of you. Even as we mourn her, we celebrate what she gave us, because it is only what she would want.

"Connecticut, you taught us what it truly means to follow your heart. For that, we commend you. CT, you taught us that life is _not_ fair. For that we applaud you. Connie, you taught us how much we mean to one another. For that we remember you." Tau bows his raven black head, signaling his speech's end.

"I know," Cali's voice cracks. She coughs before going on. "I know there is a slim chance she is still alive but, even if that is true, Connie could never return to Project Freelancer. She made her decision. That is all we can ever do; make our choice. So there is no way for us to condemn her for making a different one than the rest of us. She made her decision. And that is what we will respect because it is all she left us with."

The entire time she speaks, Cali's eyes drift from person to person through the room. North and South watch Cali and her AI. Maine has his eyes glued to the storm raging planetside. York plays with the tiny thing in his hands and looks up every now and then. DC has his eyes unfocused. Wyoming and Wash glance between Cali and Tau. Carolina, surprising everyone by showing up, stares at her boots.

"I am sorry Project Freelancer trampled you, Connie," finishes Cali. She places one of the brown Freelancer's skateboard wheels into the small shoe box she repurposed and steps away into the group.

Wyoming strides forward. He puts Connie's hairbrush. "I'm sorry, CT," he murmurs.

As the sniper makes his way back to his place, South and North go to the centre of the room. They each add a M6G round to the offering. They each say a short goodbye. Together, the pair rejoin the crowd.

Maine replaces them. The huge Freelancer growls something before dropping her spare combat knife in the box.

York crosses the clear floor next. He drops in the laces from her beloved running shoes. "It wasn't your time to leave us yet."

DC brushes past the tan Freelancer, fumbling with one of her magnets from the wall of her room. He places it silently in the box. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Wash steps up after. Into the filling container goes Connie's favourite coffee mug. "I wish it wasn't like this," he says bitterly.

Carolina slowly takes his place at the box. "Connie, I am so sorry it went so far. I… I never meant for it to go the way it did." She puts in an actual paper photograph of Connecticut and joins the others again.

Wash takes Cali's hand. She gives it a gentle squeeze. Together they put the lid on the metal container and seal it firmly. Then they lift it and bring it into the airlock proper. The Freelancer pair cross back into the antechamber. Cali punches her code into the keypad and the door slides shut. A slight hiss weaves into the room as the lock opens and then closes again.

"Goodbye Connecticut," says Tau.

The others echo the AI. Cali threads her way through them and into the hall. Wash stays right behind her.

"Good speech," he comments with a wan smile.

She shrugs. "I would rather have _not_ come up with it," she replies.

Wash pulls her in for a long hug. Cali closes her eyes and lets the world shrink until it only holds his arms around her.

She promises herself she will never go back into that airlock ever again.


	8. Business As Usual

_Hey once again, all! Just wanted to say a huge thank you. And that we will have surpassed 1 000 views today. Love you all._

* * *

**Business As Usual**

Cali laughs as she finally pulls ahead. "Get ready to suck wind York!" she calls over her shoulder.

"In your dreams," he yells forward.

"Whatever."

Even though she passed York, Cali is still only in third place. Wash is good with a skateboard, but there is still a lot of race left. She is confident they will catch him.

Cali pushes off with her right foot as hard as she can, eyes on the right angle turn fast approaching. Already she is formulating her plan of attack. She knows she will never be able to catch Wash in the straight stretch, he is just too fast. Cali grabs the corner of the wall and leans all the way to her right. The board swings wide around the corner. As soon as it points down the next corridor, Tau tells her to release the handhold.

"Got you now," she hisses to herself. Ahead, a blue figure weaves through a group of Pelican pilots.

She lets Tau navigate the mass of pedestrians, only steering when he asks her to. After narrowly avoiding 479er, Cali emerges from the group. She grins after seeing how much ground they have made up. Wash disappears around a bend only a moment before Cali reaches it. She puts her weight on the back edge of the skateboard and coasts around the curve.

Wash's head whips around at the sound of Cali's wheels on the metal floor. The combination of both Freelancers' skateboards creates an earsplitting roar as they bump over a panel of rivets. Cali stays tight on his tail as yet another turn comes at them at about twenty clicks per hour. She'll have to make her move before it or else Wash will leave her behind in the next section of 'track'.

Cali stretches forward, she can nearly touch his light blue t-shirt now. She pushes off the floor again and crouches slightly to reduce her wind resistance.

"How far is Wyoming?" she asks as she pulls up beside him. She takes the inside curve around the corner, forcing Wash to the outside.

He has to slow to avoid slamming full-out into the wall, allowing Cali an opening.

"You'll never catch him," taunts Wash. He drops back more and more.

By the time Cali rounds the last bend, Wash will be hard pressed to overtake her even if the final section of the race is straightaway. She shakes her head at his comment.

Suddenly, she feels incredibly light, weightless. She floats above the floor, her momentum the only thing keeping her forward motion. She feels bad for everyone who still haven't started the slalom portion yet; it is challenging at best, never mind in zero gravity. Cali engages her boots' artificial gravity systems and twists in the air. Her skateboard stops trying to float away from her feet.

Cali steers herself using the wall to push off of to land on the ceiling. It is smoother going there than the floor. As the wheels touch the surface of the ceiling, she flicks her hair out of her eyes. Now Cali means business.

The map on her goggles proclaims she has sixty meters to go. There is one lone red circle ahead of her, Wyoming. She sees him down the long hall, upside down and coasting along easily. He thinks he has a victory in the bag.

Cali takes advantage of his cockiness. She kicks her board from the surface to make her approach silent. It is a method that has worked well in the past. She smiles as the unsuspecting Freelancer does not so much as glance backward.

A blip catch's Cali's eye. There is a fast-gaining red dot on her motion tracker. She cranes her neck to glance behind but doesn't see anyone there. She keeps looking, searching now for the telltale shimmer of a stealth-cloaked Lancer. The red dot turns a pale blue outlined in white. Then morphs into a humanoid shape.

"Ha ha ha ha," it says in an old-school computerized voice. "I fooled you Agent California."

Cali grits her teeth as she recognizes the AI. "Get out of my glasses, Gamma!"

She looks forward again and touches down on the ceiling. She then hops a light fixture, throwing in a double kick flip for flair. As she lands, the picture in her goggles turns snowy.

"Tau," she says tightly. He forces Gamma out easily and the image regains clarity.

Twenty meters to go. Wyoming – and his frustrating AI, Gamma – are halfway there. Cali growls a long list of insults and pushes herself even faster through the air. Still, he crosses between two orange pylons five seconds before she does.

As Cali skids to a halt before Wyoming, she jumps to the floor. Not a moment too soon because as she lands, Cali feels gravity take a firm hold on her again. The Freelancers still on the course will have a difficult time figuring out which way is up for a few seconds, widening the lead of Wyoming and Cali.

Cali congratulates the sniper on his victory.

"You would have passed me for sure if it hadn't been for Gamma's idea," replies Wyoming.

"I know," says Cali enthusiastically, referring to the AI, not her inevitable win. "That was good thinking. I didn't figure it out. Never even saw him coming."

Wash skids to a halt beside Cali, slightly winded. "Nice race you two!"

Cali smiles. "I almost thought I had it, then Gamma started screwing with my glasses."

Wyoming whistles innocently and looks the other way. "Don't know what you're – "

"Why didn't we think of that, D?" York complains, having heard the last of Cali's comment. "You know what, don't tell me."

Wash laughs and picks up his board. Cali takes his hand while they wait to see the others cross the finish line.

Next comes Carolina who got caught in a three-person pileup early on. Her face darkens when she sees the four already relaxing.

"One day you'll surprise me and actually _not _try to take half the field out," jokes York.

"I thought it would help you out, York. After all, you _were_ last until I took them down. You just cannonballed over us," replies Carolina sweetly.

"Hey, no arguing," North calls as he joins the group. "We're having fun here."

"Yeah, right," South's mood beats her across the finish line.

"One day you'll surprise _me_ and beat me," Cali teases Wash.

"That would be too hard," he responds lightly. "I'd have to seriously plan."

DC crosses the finish line next. "Damn it Carolina, what was that about? I know you wanted to win, but I don't think trying to kill me was necessary!" He looks apologetic when her murderous glare is turned on him.

Cali shakes her head with a grin. The gentle banter keeps up until the Counselor breaks up the group.

"He's looking for Wash," explains Tau.

Everyone except Cali starts at the AI's abrupt appearance. Tau scuffs his black boots and apologizes.

"Agent Washington, if you would…?" invites the Counselor after picking the blond out of the growing crowd.

Wash shoots a glance at Cali. "Supper?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you," she says.

He waves and follows the clipboard-wielding man. As they disappear into the throng, Cali suddenly realizes how badly she needs a shower. She excuses herself from the attempted celebration and sets off for a post-race cleanup before the meal.

XOX

Cali is still waiting. Everyone is already eating but she wants to hear Wash's story first. After what seems like hours, the mess hall door opens to admit the Freelancer. Cali waves to tell Wash she grabbed enough food for him as well. He nods appreciatively.

"What's up with the D and C?" asks Cali, referring to the Director and Counselor less arduously.

He sits next to her, flashing a glance equal parts excitement and anxiety. "I'm getting an AI in two days!" he bursts out.

"That's awesome news," she enthuses.

He bobs his head and takes a bite of lasagna. Then promptly spits it back out. "What the hell? This tastes like the underside of a roadkilled raccoon foot!"

Cali erupts with laughter. "Special race day food. Just for you, direct from Earth."

Wash scrunches his nose. "Shut up. How can you eat this?"

She shrugs. "Once you force your way past the gag reflex – "

"Just plug your nose," North stops Cali with a hand. "Some of us are still trying to… well, not _enjoy_ but at least _have_ our meal."

Cali spreads her hands in surrender. Then she tries a forkful of her own supper. It certainly does have a hint of _charred beyond recognition_ but that is just ship food for you. "Quit your whining. It tastes fine to me."

"Oh, great. You can have mine!" York starts scooping his lasagna from his plate.

"Whoa! Nope, one helping is plenty." Cali blocks her tray from York. "I said it was _okay_, not_ perfect_!"


	9. So Please, Stay Strong

_Hey all, I hope you all enjoyed May the Fourth and had a happy cinco de Mayo! Thanks for sticking with me so long. I have a nicely packed chapter waiting for you this week. I hope you like it._

_Once again, Rooster Teeth owns the resort, I just build sandcastles on their beach._

* * *

**So Please Stay Strong**

_Look beyond the lies you've known/You're gonna see things that you might not wanna see – Underneath ~Adam Lambert_

Cali rubs her face with a noise of frustration. Her eyes have long since adjusted to the near-blackness all around. She slips out of bed and stretches.

"So, what's eating you?" she asks.

_This memory,_ replies Tau inside her head. _I can't stop thinking about it._

"Show me. Maybe we can work it out together."

Cali's vision fades.

_A small room around her. Confusion and worry wrapping icy hands around her heart._

"_Try it again, Alpha." An unforgiving and blank voice._

"_I-I can – don't want to. I-I don't have enough time to figure it all out. I just don't have enough warning. The – they're all so complicated." A broken voice threads from her throat._

"_Would you rather your friends die, Alpha?"_

"_No! What… what's next?"_

_A new resolve hardens her nerves and sharpen her mind._

"_If you are sure? You have been working very hard – "_

"_What's the next part of the plan?"_

Tau releases the memory. Cali is back in her room, still exhausted but not weary.

"That's the Alpha?"

Tau materializes before her. His dark eyes are shining. "Yes! That was him."

Cali bites her lip and slides into her shoes. "Let's take a walk."

Her feet bring them to the empty classroom of their own accord. Without a second thought, Cali goes in and sits in her normal spot. Right side, three rows back, wall seat. The pair didn't see anyone in the halls, no surprise considering the wall clock proclaims it to be three a.m.

She runs her hands over the smooth touch screen. "So, the Alpha AI is the… the Creator?" she asks, trying to translate Tau's explanation into words.

"Yes. He is where my brothers and I are from. Without Alpha – Sigma, Delta, Theta, Gamma, Omega and I – we are nothing."

"I think – hang on a sec," Cali breaks off as she notices a memory chip in one of the ports on her desk. She powers it on and is flabbergasted by the sight that greets her.

Connie.

"Cali," the image says. Connie appears to be in the locker room, sitting on a bench stretching between the long rows of lockers. She is only visible from the chest up and wears her brown armour. Her helmet is nowhere to be seen, hair in a low ponytail as usual. Her side bangs shadow the side of her face. "I know I haven't been a good friend to you in the last months. I want to tell you it was for a huge reason. But it wasn't; not really. I was just so scared that _he_ would find out what I was doing.

"Since you've found this, everything has gone according to plan. Or at least, I'm not here anymore. I wanted to leave behind everything I've found out about what has _really_ been going on at Project Freelancer. You know there is more to it. All the secrets, the lies, the _manipulation_? They are just smoke screening a huge damn _fire_. What I'm saying is, _I know what he did._

"He didn't just make AI, Cali. He broke the one they gave him. He destroyed the law that would put him away for several lifetimes."

Cali can hardly process what her lost friend is saying. That is okay, Tau is on it. Cali touches the screen gently. Barely-controlled hurt wells in her chest.

"I'm leaving Project Freelancer with the original files. I have to, it is too dangerous for me to stay much longer. Cali, the reason I'm leaving this for you is because I trust you. Even if it didn't seem like it. I trust you will do the right thing at the right time with what I can give you. I can only offer an apology. I'm sorry we didn't break on the best terms. I'm sorry I couldn't tell you. Bye Cali. Your first roommate and best friend, Connie."

The image of the Freelancer holds for a second before dissolving. File folders scroll across the screen and wait for her to select one. Cali reads the labels. AI Experimentation, Mission Logs, Personnel Files, Financials and Video Surveillance in the order in which they appeared. Cali decides to start at the intended beginning and chooses AI Experimentation.

A range of subfolders open out of the first. Each is named after a Greek letter or AI name. She, driven by Tau's disturbing memory, opens the one marked _Alpha_.

When she finishes reading, it all fits. The Alpha was based off of a flash-cloned brain of the Director's. The Director has been torturing it – like in the memory – to make it split off parts of its personality.

A thought hits her like a physical blow. Tau –

Sadness swamps him. There is no way to fix the broken pieces. They can never put the Alpha AI back together again, no way to make him whole.

Cali reaches out to comfort her AI. They calm down and continue reading. When they get to Sigma's file, Cali sees something that drives a shard of ice into her chest. Sigma and Maine were never meant to even interact. The Director's notes say he only allowed Carolina to give her AI to the mute Freelancer to see what would come of it. He suspects that Maine's personality and power would bring out more of Sigma's ambition and corrupt its intentions.

Cali stumbles upon a password locked file for an AI called Beta. She stares at the keyboard that pops up for a minute, thinking. Something Connie had said in the introductory video stands out in Cali's mind. _Smoke screening a huge damn fire…_

On impulse, Cali punches in _smokescreen_. It opens the Beta folder. As they read, Cali feels sorrow well up inside again. Allison was a woman the Director loved. She joined the Marines and died sometime during her service. While the Director was creating his AI, the memory of Allison overpowered his desire for Alpha and the two were made at once. Then he transferred the AI to a body – his notes and Connie's findings are rough on those details – and integrated her into the Project. She wears black armour and goes by codename Texas.

Tex doesn't suspect she is an AI.

Cali hesitates over Tau's file. What if there is an awful secret buried within it as well? Could she cope with just being another experiment doomed to failure? Tau lends her his own type of comfort, a jolt of adrenaline. Cali, blood roaring in her ears, opens it.

She sighs with relief when she sees all of the dry, precise notations on their progress. Nothing more sinister than Delta and York or Theta and North lurks inside.

Next she skims Eta's information. He is Wash's AI. Based on the characteristic of justice, he is supposed to make the Freelancer more mature and less naïve. The Director wants his Freelancers more like machines than people.

Cali skips over the mission logs and goes into the personnel files instead. She pulls up Connie. He knew she was poking around. He suspected. That was why he was so brutal when she left. That was why she was reported killed in action three days ago. He was only relieved his secrets were safe. He just didn't care.

She opens her folder next. The notes are somewhat unclear, but someone tipped the Director off that Cali knew more than she was letting on. He is monitoring her now, as well.

Cali's stomach growls. She jumps in surprise. Tau tells her it is six in the morning now. She stretches and ejects the USB key. She puts it in her pocket and powers down the desk. She leaves the room. They go to the mess hall. By this time, it is empty. She hastily burns some bread and slaps butter across it. Cali shoves it into her mouth as she hurries to the locker room.

Tau accesses the schedule. Texas is on the training floor being assessed by the Director and Counselor. Cali has a class at seven. Wash, the twins and York are free until lunch.

Cali swallows her badly-made toast as she strides into the locker room. What she sees freezes her to the floor. York leans against his locker, arms crossed and one foot up on the bench before him. North is seated to the side of the infiltration specialist. Across from them sits Wash. South paces in the aisle from side to side, spitting with fury. All are already in their armour.

"What's going on?" Cali interrupts South's tirade.

The others look over at her. Cali suddenly remembers she is only wearing a faded tank top and flannel pajama pants.

"Carolina's being prepped for her AI implantation," explains Wash in a falsely bright voice. He shakes his helmeted head.

"What?" yelps Cali. "She gave Sigma to Maine."

Wash nods weakly.

"_No._ She isn't taking yours?" She cannot believe it. The team leader would never go back on her decision or stoop so lowly as to take AI from her teammates. Would she?

"And _mine_!" South kicks at the wall viciously.

"She's taking _two_?" shouts Cali, incredulous.

"Eta and Iota, yeah," confirms North. He watches his sister continue raving. Cali just blocks South out in annoyance.

"And the Director is just letting her – " she begins to ask.

"He's _doing_ it _right now_!" screams South.

"I – I need to see this myself." Cali turns to leave.

"Wait," Wash calls. "Cali, you missed breakfast, you aren't dressed and you're pale. What's going on?"

Cali is torn. She wants so much to press her face against his shoulder and tell him everything she learned. But that would endanger him and Tau. Right now, she can't say anything. Is this how Connie felt?

"Tau couldn't sleep," she says evasively. After all, it was why they went to the classroom in the first place. "I've been up all night with him." She rubs her face. "I just ate."

Cali runs to the operating room hall before Wash can press further, lies burning in her mouth. When she arrives, they are just finishing drilling the first neural implant site. Cali watches in morbid fascination as the doctor picks up a tab with twin spikes a centimeter long – an AI unit – and plugs it into the back of Carolina's skull. Normally that would be all, but they still have another AI to implant. They go through the procedure again.

By this time, Tau warns her she has to get ready for class. Just as Carolina wheels out to Recovery, Cali goes back to the locker room. She finds it empty. The agent quickly gets into her armour. Before putting on her helmet, Cali catches her reflection in the mirror on her locker door. Wash is right, she _is_ pale. There are bags of tiredness under her eyes like bruises. The numerous scars peppering her skin stick out, darker against her nearly ivory-toned face. She remembers getting them. During a hand-to-hand session with Maine, her visor cracked and then shattered. Glass pierced her skin, almost severing her nose. Cali sticks her tongue out at herself before dashing off to her class.

She skids through the door, making the Director stop in the middle of his sentence. She takes her seat beside Nevada, the same one she was at earlier in the morning.

"You're late, California." The Director looks particularly disapproving.

"I'm sorry sir. Lost track of time and barely got dressed," Cali apologizes. How she loathes the man. It is his fault – and his only – that Connie is dead, Cali has to keep things from her friends, he is breathing down her neck and, icing on the cake, the Alpha AI is being tortured. She can't find it within herself to give a rat's ass if she was thirty seconds late.

He frowns at her and continues his mind-numbingly dull speech on tactics. Cali sighs and wishes she is anywhere but here. Tau can't help but agree. Before long, the Director's flat southern drawl fades into white noise. The steady drone coupled with her restless night lulls Cali. She feels her eyelids slide down and tries not to fall asleep. As her eyes roll back into her head from the effort, Tau tells her to stop fighting it. They need rest.

"Agent California! Is your patience being taxed overmuch by the lesson?"

Cali jerks upright in her chair at the sound of the Director snapping at her. "Sorry sir."

His lips are a thin line, eyes hard. "Perhaps you would rather explain the McGraw-Hill manoeuvre."

Cali groans inwardly at the eyes of her classmates falling on her and stands up labouriously to speak.


	10. Screaming Inside

_Thanks for letting me wander around for a week with half a sentence stuck to the title of the last chapter guys. Needless to say, it's gone now. If you haven't already, go check out _Phase One: Genesis_ by _TheFreelacncerCollaboration _today! This week we're introducing eight new agents, one of them is mine, Agent Michigan._

_One final thing, next week's chapter will be later than usual or on Tuesday. So, since you'll be nice and patient for me, I'll be giving you two chapters. That's right, _two_._

* * *

**Screaming Inside**

After lunch, Cali is slotted for running an obstacle course solo. She bounces lightly as FILSS counts down for her to start. A buzzer goes off and she pushes herself into a hard sprint. She slides under a fake tree propped up on two metal blocks. Then she vaults over a lower pole. She pulls her frame onto a pile of mats and gauges the distance to the oblong pillar before her. She takes a couple steps at a run and jumps over the gap. She lands in a crouch and twists left to grab the netting hanging down next to her and –

A loud buzz interrupts her run. Cali stands and casts about angrily to see who stopped her. She catches herself just before yelling when Carolina shoulders through the doorway just ahead of Texas.

"Cali, out," the blue-green Freelancer orders curtly.

Stifling a sigh, Cali hops down from the pillar. She passes the women and leaves the training room. York nearly walks into her in the doorway.

"Sorry Cali," he apologizes over his shoulder.

She rolls her eyes. She should have known he would be chasing Carolina. "Watch it, Cowboy," she calls back.

Tau is curious, a feeling Cali shares, about the outcome of the match. He particularly wants to see how Carolina will cope with two AI. Cali climbs the stairs leading to the observation deck. Maine, North, Wash, Wyoming and South all stand in a line, watching though the window. Cali joins them and peers down as well.

Tex and Carolina stand behind weapons racks, picking through an assortment of training-adjusted weapons. York hovers near Carolina's shoulder, appearing to be giving her a pep talk. On the other side, Texas shakes her head at Omega.

The gold agent leans against Wash. "What are they doing?"

He wraps an arm around her shoulder and holds her close. "When she woke up, Carolina just demanded a match with Tex."

"Agent York, please clear the floor," FILSS asks of the tan Freelancer.

York yells something over at the wall but does not move.

"Agent York, clear the floor, please," the dumb AI repeats on the testy side.

York responds in kind.

"Clear the floor or enter the match, York. Your choice." Now the AI is definitely angry.

The infiltration specialist says something to Carolina, which she answers with a glare. He retreats quickly. Tex and Carolina step back from their tables as FILSS retracts them.

Cali gasps in surprise as one yellow and one teal AI materialize next to Carolina's head. The AI are identical save for their colour. They exchange a glance before merging and fading away.

Cali does not miss the tightening of Wash's arm around her at the sight.

"They're giving me the next one tomorrow," he says.

She glances up at him in shock. "No way."

"Anyone wanna bet on of them gets killed?" North queries dryly.

"Are you kidding? I'm hoping one of us doesn't get killed just by _watching_," replies Wash.

The door opens to admit York. He takes South's place at the corner as she stalks out.

"Round One begins in three… two… one… Begin," counts FILSS. "Good luck ladies!"

Below, the two female Freelancers charge at one another. The speakers crackle to life, relaying twin battle cries to the deck from the arena-like room.

When Cali looks back on this moment, she decides this is when everything goes to hell.

The door opens again and the Director marches in, spitting with fury. "What the hell is going on here?" he demands icily.

The Freelancers whip around. Cali notices Sigma keeps watching Carolina and Tex below.

The Director struts up to the window, about to give them all a very thorough reaming out. "No matches have been authorized for – " he breaks off with a double take at the training room floor. In a fraction of a second, he pales. Every drop of anger is replaced by fear. "No! Allison," he cries.

A lightning bolt of pain explodes behind Cali's eyes. Her vision goes black. A wave of anguish rises inside of her. She falls to her knees and screams in white hot agony. A flash of a beautiful woman makes Cali flinch. She is blonde and blue-eyed. The strange woman laughs. She smoothes her standard Marine uniform.

_Allison_, Tau repeats. His voice is tight with misery.

She tries to shut out the vision. _Not real. Not her memory._

The sight fades. Cali is on her side, helmet resting against her chest. She can't remember having taken it off. She stands unsteadily, helped by Wash. All around them are howling Freelancers. Far to the right, York is half collapsed onto the wall, face covered by his palms. Curled up at Cali's feet is Wyoming. He has thrown his helmet aside and rocks gently from side to side, whimpering softly. On Wash's left, North kneels with his gloved hands pressed to the sides of his head. Next to him is Maine. The huge Freelancer blocks out the room and hisses pathetically. In the training room Tex slows to a stop, passing Carolina.

Cali's heart clenches at the sight of Carolina.

The team leader is on her knees, trying to tear off her helmet. Eta and Iota mimic her. All three are screaming out in pain. "Make them stop! Stop the voices! Somebody _please_ make the voices _stop_!" pleads Carolina.

York shakes his head hard and stands upright. His fingers are still quivering. North use the window ledge to get up carefully. Wyoming uncurls and gets to his feet. Maine removes his hands from his visor. The others are recovering.

Carolina rips off her helmet at last and tosses it away. Tex offers her hand to the stricken woman, only for it to be slapped aside. Despite everyone else's recovery, Carolina is no better.

The Counselor's cool voice breaks the tense atmosphere. "Director, we should sedate Carolina immediately. There is no telling how much damage two AI could – "

"No," the Director interrupts icily. "She made her decision. Let her be."

"Come on, somebody help her," begs York.

The Director ignores him. The only sound in the area is Carolina continuing to cry.

Tex looks up at the observation deck and spreads her arms. "What the fuck is going on? Someone get down here!"

The Director turns to the door. "You are all dismissed," he says curtly before sweeping out of the room.

York is the only one not to file out after the Director and Counselor. Cali rests an hand on his shoulder in comfort before following Wash. Cali takes the silver and yellow Freelancer's hand and holds it tightly. Tau still feels very disturbed. The physical contact helps to ease their mind.

"Are you going to be okay?" Wash asks in concern.

Cali shudders at the memory. "We'll be all right."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Cali stops walking. She takes a deep breath before offering up her explanation. It is stumbling and halting but eventually she lets the whole story out of her mind.

"Holy shit," breathes Wash after she is finished. He pulls her in for a hug.

"We should go check on Carolina," Cali says when they step back.

XOX

Carolina is in an induced coma. The medics decided it would be safer for her to sort out her mind alone with her AI.

Wash and Cali are told to stay outside. They meet North and watch the comatose Freelancer's chest rise and fall, lifting and lowering her armour. York sits at her side with Carolina's hand in his. He brushes a few stray hairs from her forehead tenderly.

"What have they said?" Cali asks the purple and green Lancer.

He sighs. "They think as soon as she wakes up they will have to remove one, maybe both. It depends on how well she deals with it." He speaks through a clenched jaw.

"Anything on future implantation?"

"They're going ahead," says North grimly. He watches her. "Can you believe it?"

"Even after this?" Wash waves incredulously at Carolina. "How can they possibly go on and keep implanting?"

Cali bites back the words she is about to spit out. _It's only a setback. _

_They don't care_.

What makes her think these throughts? Is it cynicism? Or is it because she knows what Connie told her? Instead, she asks, "You're still getting an AI?"

"Yeah, Epsilon. Tomorrow," replies Wash. He tries hard, but Cali can still pick out worry in his tone.

"Nothing bad will happen to you," she says quietly. "Nothing like this will ever happen again."

Wash smiles at her. He kisses her on the cheek. "I know. I just – it just scared me. Seeing everyone so shaken up, I mean."

"You'll be fine," says Cali confidently.


	11. Hell in a Handbasket

_Thanks for sticking with me for so long. It means more than I can ever express. We're on the homestretch now. Don't forget to check out the second chapter for this week!_

* * *

**Hell in a Hand Basket**

That evening, Cali brings some food up to the Infirmary for York. He is asleep, using an arm as a pillow next to Carolina's head. He still sits in the bedside chair. Cali winces at the uncomfortable position. York will take at least an hour before he can stand straight when he finally wakes.

Cali leaves the tray of food on the night stand and heads to her room. On her way past Wash's quarters, she decides to stop in before heading to bed to help him relax. She keys in her code and the door slides open.

Wash is laying on his bed, changed into his pajamas and staring up at the ceiling. When he hears Cali come in, he gazes over in surprise.

"I just wanted to say goodnight," she explains.

Wash sits up and waves her closer. Cali strides up to him and takes a seat on the edge of the mattress. "How are you doing?" she asks quietly.

He sucks in a deep breath before meeting her eyes. "After today, I'm kinda freaking out," he admits. He threads his fingers into her bright red hair. She rarely lets it down and it touches the middle of her shoulder blades in gentle waves. He smiles.

"David, it terrified me too." She leans into him and closes her eyes.

"Why didn't you say so?" he demands. "Why do you always have to act tough? You know, I'm not made of glass."

Cali sighs. "I… That's just how I am. You know that. I just deal with it better afterwards." She doesn't say it out loud, but Wash has had very little experience with AI. This one bad event the day before his own implantation would be enough to scar him forever. She did not want to scare him more by appearing so frightened.

"Sometimes I wish you didn't look out for me. That you could be honest and not feel like you need to protect me," he says softly.

"I'm proud of you," murmurs Cali. "You saw something horrible and are still coping with the fact that you're getting your AI tomorrow."

Wash holds her away a bit and gazes at her. "Yeah, but you were worse off. I'm so relieved that you're okay."

Cali does not answer. Instead, she kisses Wash gently. When they pull away she hugs him. "Goodnight."

She stands and crosses his bland room.

"Goodnight," he echoes as she slips outside.

Cali goes into her own room and, as she gets ready for bed, hopes everything will go smoothly tomorrow. Tau agrees.

Project Freelancer could certainly use some good luck.

XOX

The loud and obnoxious wailing of Cali's alarm wakes her up at 0600 the next morning. She rolls out of bed groggily and begins throwing on clothes at random. As she steps out into the bright hallway from her pitch black room, Cali is only about thirty-five percent sure she is dressed appropriately.

She glances down at herself after the first dozen sideways glares. She realizes her long-sleeved shirt is inside out and backwards. She rights it as she runs to the corridor outside of the operating room.

On the other side of the Flexi-glas, the Director and Counselor look on calmly as the head doctor disengages the room's gravity. Everything in the room engages an artificial gravity field except for the surface of the table. The result is that the silver and yellow figure stretched along it floats while all other occupants remain on the floor. Wash is turned facedown by a medic.

Someone joins Cali. "Here."

The sudden voice causes her to start. She turns to see DC– in his armour – holding out a chocolate chip muffin.

"Thanks." Cali takes the offered food gratefully. She peels the paper from the pastry and takes a bite. She quickly snatches famished mouthfuls, now aware just how hungry she is.

"Carolina woke up for a bit," says DC.

She swallows the last of her muffin. "How was she?"

He watches the proceedings as he thinks about his reply. The doctors seem to be in some sort of disagreement. "She's going to take time to get back to normal," DC says after a minute. "I'm not sure if they want to take one out yet or not."

Now that the dispute has been settled by the Director's intervention, a doctor drills for the neural implant. Cali takes a deep breath. "Thanks, DC. I appreciate it."

The other Freelancer holds up a hand. "I get it. See you later." He leaves her alone.

Cali has no idea how long she has been standing there, but it feels like it has been forever. Her hands are sweaty and she presses them to the window to cool them. She wishes it was over already. Cali sighs with relief when a doctor steps forward with an AI containment unit. Now all they have to do is put the AI into Wash's implant and it will be finished.

The Director does something with the unit. Following that, he attaches it to Wash. The Director holds it there for a moment. He takes it away. It is placed gently on the table. Wash's brain activity spikes on a monitor on the far wall.

This is when everything falls apart.

Washington twists over as a doctor pushes him against the table. A white-robed medic re-engages the gravity. Wash sits bold upright and swats the doctor away. He brings his hands up to stare at them blankly. He grabs the sides of his blond head and cries out in pain. It is a long and mournful keening noise.

A second doctor tries to take his hands away and force Wash back down. He is awarded a backhanded blow to the nose for his trouble. Wash kicks out, hitting a tray of operating tools. The tray spills sharp objects across the floor.

Wash's pain-filled voice rises and the yells take on meaning. "Please no! Don't say goodbye. Please – please don't go. Don't make me – " He breaks off.

The Freelancer rolls off the table, landing on his hands and knees. He curls over and presses his forehead to the floor. His shoulders shake as he begins to cry.

Cali is already sprinting to the door. She skids around the corner, hopping on one foot and tries to balance, as the Director walks out with his entourage.

"Get him to Recovery," he barks.

A doctor is pulling a gurney behind him. Wash is lying on his back, eyes closed and rolling wildly. Clearly, in the time it took Cali to join them, they managed to sedate the stricken agent.

"Sir," the doctor acknowledges.

The Director steps aside to allow them to pass. "Counselor, I'd like to speak with him as soon as he wakes up."

Cali tags onto the strange procession. She lets the walls down and panic grips her finally. She clutches the side of the gurney for support and keeps brisk pace. She blocks out Tau's feeble attempts to calm her. This time, she has to deal with it alone.

"Of course, sir," the Counselor replies. "What was that he said about goodbyes?"

Cali shuts them out. She doesn't care about what he said, only the broken sound of his wailing. More specifically, the cause of them and whether he will be all right.

They turn into the Recovery room. She bites her lip and watches helplessly from the doorway as they move Wash into a bed and try to settle him. The head doctor squeezes Cali's shoulder gently before following her colleagues quietly out.

In Recovery, only the two Freelancers move. It is silent and still. Cali outwardly looks upset. Her eyes are full of tears and she is shaking. Inside, though, is another story. Inside, she is screaming. She curses the Director. Why had he done this to Wash?

What had gone so fucking wrong?

Finally Tau consoles Cali. She flops into the chair beside Wash and takes the sedated Freelancer's head in her hands. She strokes his forehead.

In her mind's eye, Cali keeps seeing him doubled over on the floor and screaming in pain.

It is too still in Recovery.


	12. Tear You Down

_Wait! Stop! If you just jumped to this chapter, you're missing the one before it. This is the second chapter I put up today._

* * *

**Tear You Down**

_You're holding in your hands the two halves of my heart – Princess of China ~ Coldplay _

The days slowly blend together. Each one bleeds into the next. North, York, Maine, DC, South and even Carolina come to visit every day. Usually though, Cali sits at Wash's side and thinks. She ponders on the meaning and reason for Connie's message. She wonders what she is meant to do with the information. But mostly, Cali worries over the impending waking of the sleeping silver Freelancer beside her. What will it be like? How will Epsilon act? What was the meltdown in the operating room about?

Cali refuses to leave Wash's bed for anything but a shower.

Finally, on the fifth day, the doctors declare his brain activity has returned to normal. They stop sedating him. Cali holds Wash's hand tightly until the effect wears off. Still worrying.

It begins innocently enough. Wash's eyelids flutter open. He groans and pushes himself up into a sitting position. Recognition flares and he smiles. Cali smoothes his wild blond hair. She struggles to return the smile. It hardly tugs up the corners of her lips. It never had a shot at reaching her eyes.

"How are you feeling, Agent Washington?" the Director asks. He stands a few paces behind Cali.

Wash glances at the stern-faced man. He is impassive behind his square, black-rimmed glasses. "Tired," he croaks.

"What do you remember about the operation?" probes the Director cruelly.

Cali has learned Wash's AI is the memory fragment.

"Remember…? Huh." Wash licks his lips and furrows his brow in concentration. "I remember you waking me up."

"Good. Please continue."

Cali clenches her teeth as a distressed look darkens the Freelancer's face.

"Well… Y-you brought me here. You gave me an injection and then I – I fell asleep. Then – " he breaks off. A twitch forms at the side of his mouth.

"Go on," encourages the Counselor. His light pen is poised over his datapad.

Suddenly Wash's eyes turn a deep royal blue. "No, Allison! You can't go!"

Cali's teeth find her lip as he turns on her, throwing off her hand. "Listen to me, you _have_ to stay here!"

"Put him back under," says the Director lazily.

A medic leaps forward and does as asked. Wash slumps backwards against his pillow, a crazed light fading from his once-again green eyes.

The Director turns to the door. Flatly, he adds, "They will have to go. Starting with him."

And with that, he storms from the ward, bringing Cali's hopes with him.

She catches at Wash's hand tightly again. "Please hang in there, Wash."

XOX

She wakes to somebody shaking her shoulder.

"What?" she murmurs.

"Come on Cali. Let's get you something to eat." It is Nev standing over her. She helps her stand. Together, they make their way to the mess hall.

Cali rubs the clinging tendrils of sleepiness from her eyes. With a jolt, she reaches out with her mind for Tau. He meets her and a wave of relief rolls through her. She begins to shiver, there is no way she can just give up her AI. He is too much a part of her now. Cali understands what that means. She knows why Connie left her the file now.

York moves over to make room for the groggy gold Freelancer. She stares blankly at the tray of supper Nevada constructed for her.

"And because of him, I don't even _get_ one!" South says, just loud enough for Cali to hear.

"Give it up, South," York says tiredly. "At least you won't have to go through them _taking a part of you away_ after."

"Oh, shut your face, York," she flashes back haughtily.

"Yeah, thanks for welcoming me back everyone," mumbles Cali around a mouthful of what tastes like ash.

"About time you quit moping about in the Infirmary with your _boyfriend _like he died," the younger Dakota sneers.

"Yeah, I feel _so bad_ for you, South," spits Cali bitterly. She's itching for a screaming match. "Go fuck yourself."

"Has anyone seen Texas lately?" asks North loudly, cutting off his sister's rebuttal.

No one answers.

"Why?" asks Cali.

"I haven't been able to find her all day. I wanted to ask her something," he explains. She sees something interesting in the Freelancer's eyes. The same look in York's whenever Carolina is around.

"I heard she left to keep Omega away from the Director," someone from another table replies.

"Yeah," another Freelancer jumps in. "She's next after that Washington freak."

Cali tries to stand and deliver a cutting remark. York grabs her shoulder and pushes her roughly back into her chair. "Don't," he says warningly.

She'll thank him later for that. When she has her head on straight again. Cali bites back her sharp words. "So they really _are_ removing all of our AI?"

North agrees grimly.

The rest of the meal passes in ear-splitting silence. It crawls deep into the Freelancers' ears and chokes off any thoughts of pleasant dinner-time chit-chat. Cali goes back to the Infirmary. Wash is half-awake and muttering something to himself.

"Wash?" Cali asks cautiously.

_That isn't Wash, _Tau says despondently. _Look at his eyes. They're blue again._

"Epsilon?" Cali tries again.

The AI trails off at the sound of his name. "Allison?" he queries in a louder voice.

"No. I – I'm Cali."

"I remember you, Cali," says Epsilon. "Wash doesn't want you to worry about him."

Cali slowly crosses to the only occupied bed. She sits in the chair beside the Freelancer. "How are you feeling?"

"I used to have a girl once." Epsilon gives no sign of hearing Cali. He stumbles on with Wash's voice. "Do you know happened? You know where she is now?"

_Allison…? He is remembering from Alpha._

"I know what happened to her, Epsilon." Cali nods. "I know what happened to Allison."

"It's all _his_ fault! I – I tried as hard as I could but… but I let her die," Epsilon says, voice rising to a wail. "No matter how hard I tried, no matter how much I wanted to change it, I just had to let her die!"

"Epsilon, what happened wasn't your fault," Cali says soothingly. "You couldn't have done more."

"I could have _saved _her," the AI shouts stubbornly. "I don't deserve this."

Cali strokes his hair. "No, you don't. You deserve _better_."

"I don't believe you," Epsilon screams. "You're just lying to me too." He rips himself away from Cali as though she slapped him. "All you do is_ lie_. I can't trust anyone."

He falls back and lays still for a moment. Cali hovers, unsure what to do now. She stifles a gasp as he starts twitching. All of Wash's body dissolves into shakes and shivers. A long, broken cry threads from his lips. It rises into a bloodcurdling screech and then…

Silence.

Cali runs, calling for a doctor, a medic, _anyone_. A medic comes rushing in. He checks on Wash, or Epsilon and calls the Director. She stands against the wall, trying so hard just to not break down.

When the Director arrives, he orders the doctors to prep Wash for removal.

"What happened to him?" Cali asks, choking on the thick mound of tears in her throat.

The Director stalks by her without a word.

She snatches a handful of his crisp shirt. "What's wrong with him?" she yells.

The Director calmly removes her hand and gazes levelly at her. "Epsilon committed suicide."

XOX

Cali knows that an AI self-destructing in someone's head is bad. _Really_ bad. Like, enough-to-cause-massive-amounts-of-trauma bad. Her stomach drops through the floor.

"We are removing the Epsilon AI now," the Director continues, "to try to contain the amount of damage to Agent Washington's mind. There is no telling what state he will be in afterward."

Cali realizes he is speaking to her gently and has rested a hand on her shoulder. How _dare_ he try to placate her! This is _all_ his doing.

Tau takes control of her before something foolish occurs. He allows the Director to steer them outside. Tau releases Cali when the hateful man is ducking into the operating room. She presses the side of her face to the window and numbly watches the proceedings. She becomes aware of a presence next to her. Nevada.

The other woman takes her by the arm, her grip tight on Cali's bare skin. "Come on, it's almost midnight."

"So?" Cali protests, digging in and refusing to allow Nev to shepherd her somewhere far from Wash.

"_So_ you're tired. You can't help Wash right now," replies the stockier woman. "Get some sleep. If you're rested now, you'll be able to sit with him longer later."

Cali looks longingly at Wash's prone form through the window. "I'm scared," she admits. "What if something goes wrong and I'm not there?"

Nev stops attempting to drag Cali. She gazes reassuringly at her. "I promise to get you if anything happens. I swear."

Cali nods once and reluctantly stumbles along behind the green and black Freelancer. They go into Recovery. Nev tucks Cali into a bed next to Wash's.

Tau softly hums, lulling his agent into an uneasy sleep. Cali dreams she is running. Running through snow up to her knees. And no matter how fast she seems to move, she never gets anywhere. There is somewhere she needs to be. Some person she needs to see. But she just can't get there.

XOX

"Cali? Cali, wake up. Tau, wake her up, I don't have much time!"

Cali sits up and glances around. A black-armoured form is settled on the bed next to her. She remembers all that transpired last night and evert last trace of grogginess evaporates immediately. "Wash?" she asks frantically.

"He's stable now," replies Tex. "Cali, I need you to listen to me. Before Connie left, she made a whole – "

"Yeah, she gave me one. I know."

If this surprised the black Freelancer, she gives no sign. "Good, at least I don't have to explain it to you." She looks around quickly. "Here's the deal. I need your help. I'm taking the Alpha AI away from the Director. This madness has got to stop. Now."

Cali dips her head. "So what's going to go down?"

"I'm breaking into the wing where the Director has it locked up. I have help for all that. I can get through on my own from there," explains Tex.

"Wait, I don't understand what this all has to do with me. Why do you need me?" Cali spreads her hands.

Tex nods to herself, as if approving what Cali said. "I need someone who knows nearly everything on the inside just in case another variable emerges."

"You mean, backup?" She raises an eyebrow.

Tex agrees softly. "You're in a good position here, Cali. You won't have any distractions, people wander in and out all day visiting so I can get messages to – and from – you. Best of all, the Director and Counselor will be coming in here every day from the Alpha wing. You'll be able to tell me where they are and when on the day we move."

Cali weighs her options. Either she accepts and jeopardizes her chances of staying with Wash. Or she declines and loses the _one shot_ to prevent anything like this from ever happening again _and_ the opportunity to keep Tau.

"When is this going to actually happen?" Cali asks after a moment of thought.

"That I'll send with my infiltrator," replies Tex.

"York? He's involved in this?"

"I told him all about my plan, yeah. He knew what AI removal meant for him and Delta." Tex gets up as she speaks.

When Tex reaches the doorway, Cali calls, "Good luck!"

Then Tex steps out into the dark hall.

Cali casts about for a clock. Four a.m. Still much too early. She glances over to Wash. He is sleeping peacefully. She lays down and goes back to sleep.


	13. Game Faces On

**Game Faces On**

'_Just this one last time, I swear you'll still be mine'_

_He can't promise much and goes for one last touch_

_Maybe we were meant to be lonely_

_And she's in love with him, but lovers don't always win_

_Kissed his trembling lips, she touched his fingertips_

_Somehow they both know he's not coming home - The Fighter ~ The Fray_

"Hey. Any change?"

Cali blows a breath out through her nose and shakes her head. "Not since they unhooked all the machines, North."

"Yeah, York said that all went okay." He sits down next to her.

It has been a day and a half since Epsilon terminated. Wash is still unconscious.

Cali tucks a stray piece of auburn hair behind her ear. "You mind if I leave for a bit?" she asks. "I need to go and _do_ something. This place is starting to drive us up the wall."

"Sure," North smiles, "take your time. I'll call if anything happens, all right?"

"Thanks, North. You're the best." Cali kisses him on the cheek. Then she hurries out of the room.

She skips through the _Invention_ to release some energy. She lets Tau navigate the mazelike halls until they reach the locker room. Cali slips inside and opens her locker. Inside, in a neat pile, is her shiny gold and dark green armour. She pulls on the black undersuit quickly before starting with the bulky protective layer.

After a few minutes, Cali is closing her locker again, helmet in hand. She whistles as she heads back into the corridors. Now that she's carrying the extra weight – even though it supports itself largely – she moves at a relaxed and measured pace.

About halfway to the Infirmary, Tau alerts her to a strange series of noises. He guides her to the source at once.

Cali nearly drops her helmet in shock. She swiftly stuffs it over her head and activates her stealth module.

A huge, towering Freelancer kicks a smaller white one viciously in the side. "Give it to me," snarls a dimly-recognised voice.

"No! You'll never get him," spits a man with a British accent.

Wyoming falls under the weight of his assailant's attacks with a yelp. Cali knows that armour configuration but…?

"Now you will give me the Gamma AI." A flame-wreathed construct appears directly in front of the downed sniper.

Cali watches in horror, frozen in place, as Maine and Sigma continue to lay into Wyoming. The white Lancer yanks off his helmet, sending it skidding. He grabs his head in both hands while kicking out at Maine wildly. Wyoming collapses flat out against the metal floor, twitching in a hauntingly familiar fashion.

"What is this?" demands Sigma. Then he pops out of view. Maine reaches for Wyoming.

Cali watches as the Freelancer on the ground wraps his fingers around something on the base of his skull. "No, Gamma, don't!" he cries. Wyoming's eyes turn icy blue. The AI twists away from Cali, shielding the unit from Maine with the rest of his body. Gamma takes a tighter grip on the implant chip and gives it a sharp tug. It comes away in his hand, blood dripping from the tines to the floor and running under Wyoming's armour. The Freelancer slumps and lies still.

Cali starts moving, burying her horror. She manoeuvres around behind Maine and, not certain how to distract him, delivers a stiff jab to the unprotected lower back. As the blow connects with his undersuit, Cali backpedals as quickly as possible. She dives around a wall. Then she sprints in the direction opposite from which she came.

"York, time to move," she hisses into his comm link.

"What's up?" he asks cheerily. A stark contrast to Cali, whose skin seems to be attempting to crawl off her head.

"I'm calling the Director and Counselor out to – " she glances around, letting Tau keep her from bouncing off walls, trying to orient herself, " – A17. We have a white sniper and annoying AI down."

"What the hell did you see?" the tan Freelancer spits. It sounds like he is running.

"A three hundred-pound white and brown mountain and his psycho second-hand AI went on the warpath," Cali explains casually. She punches an alarm on her way through the ship.

Lights, camera, action.

"Shit. What happened?"

"Maine had Wyoming cornered. Sig started demanding he give up Gamma while Maine beat the shit out of him. Gamma took over and pulled himself." Cali skids around a bend.

"Gary ejected? What did you do then?" York seems to have stopped.

"I – I punched Maine in the kidneys," Cali admits. "Now I'm running like fuck."

"Good girl," praises York. "Did you hit that alarm?"

"Yeah."

"That explains the blaring sirens."

"Thought so." Cali throws herself around another corner. She then slams into a light brown Freelancer. Cali lets Tau take over, turning them in the air so they land on their feet. Delta isn't as quick. "Fuck! Sorry, York!"

"I'm good," he calls from his back on the floor.

She goes over to her friend and pulls him to his feet. "In a hurry?"

"Tex has it all lined up," he shrugs. "The Director's comin' out to clear this mess. Carolina'll go after him and demand he leave her AI in her head," York adds bitterly.

"York? Sorry, but focus." Cali snaps her fingers in front of his visor a couple of times.

He shakes his head. "Yeah. They'll go at it for a long time. You're lucky you've missed all that so far."

"Sure. Luck is what that is," says Cali flatly.

"Anyway, we're moving now," he finishes.

She claps him on the back. She takes off again. "Good luck. Watch out for Maine!"

A voice whispers in her head. _Someone who knows nearly everything on the inside just in case another variable emerges._ That was what Tex said. Well, now there's a new problem with Maine and Sigma. She opens a link to Tex.

"Cali? York just filled me in," she answers.

_That was fast,_ says Tau.

"Would that be the other variable you meant?" asks Cali.

"Go for it."

XOX

The alarms cut off abruptly a minute later. Four minutes after that, FILSS announces Agent Texas attacked Wyoming. A bandage solution to the out of control problem.

A minute after that, Cali bursts into the final stretch of hallway, ignoring the stitch in her side. Sirens go off again.

She gets a short message from York. _Get ready. Stay safe._

She pushes her way into the Infirmary.

"He's awake," calls North.

"Cali!" yells Wash at the same time.

She rushes to his side.

"What's going on?" North asks in an undertone.

"I think Tex is going to need a hand," she hisses back.

"See you soon," says North louder. He pats Wash on the shoulder and leaves, dragging a protesting South with him.

He didn't even ask what Cali even means.

"How are you feeling?" she questions Wash. She pulls off her helmet.

Wash takes her hand. "Better." He is still wearing his armour. For some reason, they left him in it after removing Epsilon.

"Good," is all she says. Cali leans in and kisses him gently. Her heart clenches at the thought of leaving him alone now. "Good," she murmurs into his mouth.

He is the first to pull away. "Is everything okay?"

"Y-yes," she stammers in surprise.

"Cali, what's taking you?" York prompts, disembodied voice floating from her helmet.

"I… I'm getting ready," she replies, voice breaking. Suddenly there is a massive lump in her throat.

"What does he mean?" Wash frowns at her.

Cali swallows hard. "I, um, I have to go."

There. She said it.

His jaw clenches and his grip on her hand tightens. "Where? Why?" A note of desperation seeps into his voice.

Cali takes a moment, trying to swallow down the feeling in her throat to speak. She decides it would be easier to just tell Wash. "I need to find Maine for York and Tex. He's the one who attacked Wyoming."

"No, you can't go," he cries suddenly. "The last time you left, I thought you were dead!"

She is confused for a second. Tau realizes Epsilon left his memories with Wash. He has her mistaken for Allison. "No Wash, that wasn't me," she says gently. She speaks as though she might break him. For all she knows, she will. "I will never leave you for that long. I'll only be gone for a little while."

"No, the last time – " he tries to reiterate. His face crumples and Wash begins to cry. He looks pleadingly at her. "Please just stay."

Even though it breaks her heart to see him like this, it is killing Cali to shake her head. "I can't."

_It's the only way to keep him safe._

_I wish it wasn't so damn hard to do._

"Please. Stay with me. Don't go away," begs Wash. "Don't leave."

"Wash I – " Cali's voice hitches again. She feels her own eyes fill with tears. They spill over quickly. "David, I promise I will _never_ leave you. I can't. I will never be able to leave you because I'm in here." She touches the left side of his chestplate.

He glances down and places a hand over hers. Silver and gold.

"I'll always be in your heart, even if I'm not beside you," Cali says. Now she is choking on her words, barely able to get them around her tears. "If you remember m-me, then I-I will never truly be gone. Memory is the key, Wash. But I swear to you, I will do my damn best to come back to you."

Cali kisses him quickly. She pays attention to how exactly his hands feel on her wet face. She breathes in his scent and concentrates on his taste on her lips. "I will _never _stop trying to get back to you. No matter how long it takes."

"Really?" His voice is as rough as hers in Cali's ear.

"I promise you," she whispers back. "Because I love you, Wash."

"I love you, Cali."

"Now let go of me."

Wash slackens his hold. He stands unsteadily and hobbles to the door with Cali, hand in hand.

She slides her fingers from his with a low sob. She tightens her jaw, squares her shoulders and walks away. She promises herself she'll be back in a couple of hours, none the worse for wear.

Cali glances over her shoulder. He wipes away the damp from his cheeks. She smiles wistfully. She breaks into a sprint and looks ahead. She puts her helmet on.

Time to take care of Maine.


	14. Gonna Fight Them Off

**Gonna Fight Them Off**

Cali asks Tau to try and triangulate Sigma. She stands with her back to the wall, drying her face as he works.

_I found them_, he says after a long moment. _Setting a waypoint and markers now._

Cali jams her helmet back on, pushes off the wall and kicks into a jog. A glowing blue line appears on the floor, leading her to their destination. Their path twists in and out of familiar territory. They pass the bridge and raised voices pour out. The mess hall is deathly quiet for once. The alarms echo through the training room over and over again. Cali nearly misses her next step when the trail ends at Airlock 10.

She swallows back a pileup of emotions. She stops cold when she hears the scream. Her limbs lock for a split second. She hardens her resolve and, fully visible, steps into the wide, clear-walled antechamber. Cali will never _ever_ be ready for the sight that greets her.

Maine has Nevada by the throat. The petite green and black Freelancer's feet swing wildly over the floor.

"Cali, go. Run," chokes Nev. She has her hands wrapped around Maine's and tries to pry his massive digits away from her windpipe.

"Found him," Cali chokes into the link shared with York.

"Roger that," he acknowledges. "You might wanna grab onto something soon."

Cali ignores his warning. Instead, she leaps at Maine, shouldering the big man in the stomach hard. He hisses out a gasp and shakes Nev. As Cali sidesteps, arms outstretched, Maine releases the small woman. Cali catches her and sets Nev down carefully.

"York says it's going to get bumpy."

No sooner are the words out of her mouth than the ship bucks like a caged animal. Cali staggers back from Maine, he just plants his feet and absorbs the shocks. Nev falls backwards into a heap of limbs.

More horns wail and a new colour of lights blink on and off stubbornly at the abuse. Strange coloured shadows loom up on the walls.

"You call that big?" yells Tex scornfully. "Men."

Cali locks them out of her helmet for the time being. She sizes up to her towering adversary. Memories of sparring with Maine in the yellow gym bubble up. Cali shakes them off impatiently. He certainly won't be going easy on her now.

He growls and curls his fingers into fists the size of pineapples. Maine takes a menacing step towards her. Cali shifts her weight and lets him. Maine claims another stride of floor, seemingly walking through the stars. As he moves to take another section of the antechamber, she flashes out her front foot. Maine reacts quickly, leaning back and catching her leg. Cali puts her weight into Maine's hand and steps up onto his barrel chest. She kicks over in a neat flip, wrenching herself out of his grasp. She lands in a crouch.

"Take his left," hisses Nev. The other woman is on her feet and moving into position on Maine's right flank.

Cali slides to the side. She falls into a series of feints and lightning-fast jabs. While she occupies the mountain of a man, Nev cuffs the back of his head and generally assaults him.

Out of the blue, Cali floats from the floor. She kicks off the wall and engages her grav boots. Cali lands on Maine and knees him in the visor.

He growls and punches the back of her supporting knee. Cali grits her teeth as pain tightens its fingers around her joint. Sensing she is about to crumble, Tau pulls her form the heavy blanket of pain and takes control.

From the safe walls of their mind, Cali watches as Tau gives as good as he gets. Minutes crawl by like years while Tau keeps Maine's attention. The AI manipulates Cali's body with ease. Twisting out of Maine's reach once again, her padded fist connects with the Freelancer's damaged throat.

Maine clamps a viselike hand around Cali's wrist against a backdrop of flames. Sometime during the chaos, Cali suspects the _Mother of Invention_ pulled into a steep dive towards the ice bound planet growing steadily broader and clearer. Tau struggles to fight free a final time, but now Maine and Sigma have learned.

Nev strikes at Maine's shoulder only to be swatted aside with less energy than one might use to brush away a bothersome fly. She lands in a pile before the vista of snowfire.

Maine clutches Cali's wrist with enough force to grate the bones together. Cali pushes into her body again. It welcomes her back with a chorus of injuries. Cali sweeps them into a pile and files it under _Tough Shit_ for later. "Maine, stop."

If he even hears her weak plea, he gives no sign of it. Maine instead palms her helmet with his free hand. Dread rolls through Cali's stomach, laced with the icy tendrils of some half-forgotten emotion. Fear.

Maine rips away the hard shell from Cali's head and throws it against the floor or window by Nev's chest with enough strength to crack the shatter-resistant glass. Cali gulps in air, suddenly unable to draw enough in.

"Please, no," she begs. Cali and Tau both know what Sigma have planned. "Not now."

Maine slides off his own helmet, mag-clamping it to his back within easy grabbing distance. He reaches around Cali's head. She squeezes her eyes shut on tears.

"I'm sorry, Tau. I couldn't do it," she says to her AI by way of farewell.

Maine's fingers close over the unit plugged into Cali's brain and begins to pull. She shrieks with pain.


	15. Went Wrong So Fast

**Went Wrong So Fast**

_Line in the sand: a point (physical, decisional, etc) beyond which one will proceed no further_

Before she can even consider the possible implications of the plan Tau shoves at Cali, she is doing it.

Cali leans forward and, before she realizes it, her lips crash into Maine's. At first his mouth is hard and unforgiving, then – as he notices what is happening – it softens. He opens his mouth and his hot breath is on Cali's tongue. He hisses quietly. She feels relief loosen the tight knots in her stomach as Maine's strong fingers curl into Cali's sweaty hair. His other hand runs up her arm and finds the centre of her back. He holds Cali against his chest carefully, as though worried he will break her.

A quake rocks the _Invention_. The wail of tearing metal accompanies it. Cali winces in pain at the horrendous noise. The first wave is followed quickly by a second. As it hits the ship, Maine falls into the far wall. Cali bumps roughly into him.

Maine breaks the kiss abruptly, pulling away and jerking his hands away from Cali as though she slapped him. She rolls away, gasping. When she glances back at the white and orange Freelancer, his face is buried beneath his hands. Cali takes them in her own and cautiously removes them.

Maine stares up at her, brown eyes filled with anguish and regret. As she watches, they harden and turn scarlet.

Even as Tau warns her, Cali drops his hands and scrambles backwards.

"Sigma, leave her," commands Nevada. Cali flicks a sidelong glance at the green and black Freelancer. Nev has her M6G trained on Maine's large target.

He lets out a growl, deep and dark.

"No, Sigma. She doesn't have what you _really_ want."

Cali opens her mouth to ask what the _fuck_ Nev thinks she is doing. The other woman shakes her head nearly imperceptibly. Cali shuts her mouth again.

Maine cocks his head.

"Tau and Cali will fight you until nothing is left," continues Nevada. "I know someone who isn't as balanced. She has _two_ AI as well as two enhancements. You know you would be better off chasing her before she gets away. Go on.

"Go get _Carolina_."

Maine leaps to his feet. He punches the cracked Flexi-glas plate until it collapses into a shower of cutting shards. Tiny pieces of window fly at Cali. She covers her head until Tau tells her the reinforced glass has settled.

Maine is half in, half out of the broken window. He stands against the howling wind and snow fall, looking back at Cali. In his hand is the big EVA helmet.

"Mmmmmmeeeeetaaaaaaaaaa," he rasps in a voice of wind, cold and harsh in his throat.

Cali jumps to her feet as the Freelancer who was once Agent Maine and the AI Sigma seals its helmet on and sweeps out into the storm. She runs to the jagged hole to see him moving toward a pale teal shape. It staggers to the edge of the cliff away from the thing now calling itself _Meta_.

He picks Carolina up by the neck, tossing aside her helmet like so much refuse. A heartbroken cry threads its way to Cali's ears, carried by the wind. Meta uses his other hand to peel off his own helmet, push two small items into his skull and slide the helmet back on.

Cali screams as she watches helplessly when the man who was once in love with her drops Carolina over the edge of the cliff. Then he shimmers out of visibility.

She slides down to her knees with a gasp. She watches Tex's black form break out of the bridge section of the _Mother of Invention._ Texas sees the outline of Maine and Sigma watching her and runs into the storm.

Cali gets up. She needs to get back to the Infirmary.

Nevada stands there, not moving. Cali stalks over to her friend and shoves her face aggressively into Nev's.

"You killed Carolina," she growls. Something worse than anger coils like a waking snake in her chest. Cali shoves Nevada to the ground.

"I saved you and Tau!" Nev cries. "I helped you." She half stands in defiance. "If it weren't for me, you'd just be a mewling mess on the floor!"

Cali draws her fist back. Just before she is about to let it fly into her friend's face, she realizes what she is doing. She sags. All at once, the fight goes out of her. "Get out of here."

Nev backs against the wall. She looks wistfully at Cali. Then she runs from the room. Cali gives her a head start, just in case Tau can't stop her next time.

While she stands there, Cali takes one final glance around. She takes in the shattered window, her mind adding the sight of Maine framed in the sharp halo of falling glass. She sees the dent where they landed, wrapped in each other's arms. Her lips burn with the memory of the kiss and guilt rises in her throat. Then the room fills with her teammates. Cali sees a box on the floor, holding pieces of Connie's life. Cali turns to the doorway. She looks back, her grey eyes raking the familiar clear room.

She turns her back on the memories. Cali runs from the room. Runs from the ghosts.

XOX

Cali bursts into the Infirmary. Surprisingly, not much of the ship was damaged during the crash. She takes one glance through the ward and feels her heart stop for a moment.

Wash is gone.

She runs to his bed. "Tau?"

He pops up in front of her. "He isn't on the ship," he says quietly. "I'm so sorry, Cali."

"How can he just have _disappeared_? He's unstable!" screams Cali in agony.

Tau offers nothing but silence.

Cali spots something on the bedside table. She snatches it up. Her heart hammers painfully in her throat. It is the photograph of Cali and Wash with their arms around one another. She gave it to him so long ago. She flips it over, not able to bear the sight of him and her so happy.

Not after everything that has happened.

_Cali, I don't know if you are coming back, but I will always remember you. I swear._

_I love you,_

_Wash._

Cali hugs the photo to her chest. She releases a broken noise.

"Cali?" Tau says quietly.

"C-come on T-Tau. We're l-l-leaving."

She sees the empty window at the edge of the room. Cali moves to it, tucking the picture into her belt pack. Cali ensures the shotgun she grabbed from the armoury is clamped securely to her back. She hoists herself up and squeezes through the gap.

Cali and Tau leave.

They do not look back.


	16. Into the Blood Dawn

**Into the Blood Dawn**

_The skyscrapers fell and crumbled to dust _

_And like skeletons of steel, were covered in rust_

_Nothing living had survived_

_Everything I loved and feared _

_Had all at once disappeared_

_Silver and Gold had lost all its worth – Silver and Gold ~ City and Colour_

Cali climbs the mountain behind the ship's remains, heading straight. When she hauls herself up and over the final ridge, out of breath and in pain all over, she lets out a scream. It is part anger, part pain and entirely heartsick.

As it echoes away through the storm, she feels long-held tears finally spill over. She lets them flow.

Below her, spread like a fallen man with a broken back, sprawls the corpse of the _Mother of Invention_. Fires all along its ungainly body have flickered in and out of life ever since Cali began to claw her way up the mountainside.

_Look._ Tau turns her gaze.

Cali peers through the driving storm and darkness. A bright red star is rising, cutting through the gloom and still-falling snow. It trails blood through the sky as it drags itself forward over the horizon.

_It is a new day._

"A good day to restart."

With the pale dawn light trailing fingers over her armour, the gold Freelancer turns and trudges through the still swirling snow.

_I will never stop trying to get back to you. No matter how long it takes._

_XOX_

**So here we are, at the end of the Sand-y beach. I want to thank all my fabulous reviewers, you helped me keep going each and every week. I want to thank all you awesome favourite-ers, you made me think this was worth persuing Monday after Monday. I want to thank all you wonderful followers, you were what had me updating no matter the circumstances for the last three months. Finally, I want to thank all the lurkers and readers, you reminded me not every person that reads reviews. I think 2 500 views was a wonderful welcome to the land of RvB. **

**For anyone who is on pins and needles for more of Cali and Tau, I'll be posting the prequel very soon so I can work on finishing the sequel. **

**You guys are what made this possible and, 30 thousand-and-change words later, what made this ending possible. See you When We Were Still Okay... **


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